Any of my blogging peeps have the experience of going from blog to podcast?
I keep hearing that in the “new” era we are in, people are getting tired of screen time. I know it’s true for me, and I have to be careful not to spend too much time on screens.
Podcasts can be a very consumable type of content and I have had a hankering to try this for a while now. I know I have a lot to learn but there are some useful “podcasts about podcasts” out there, so who knows?
Today I just did my first co-hosting of a podcast for the Multipod. It isn’t released yet, but I absolutely loved interviewing the guest! I’m addicted. I’ll be doing another cohost of an interview this Thursday.
I would love to hear your experiences, if you care to weigh in.
Cheers & happy Full Moon!
Much love,
Cristy
I didn’t use this mike today but I may use it in the future. Used my Jabra headset today.
How is your winter going? I am on the eve of letting the email address associated with this domain expire since I have been gradually moving toward a modified portfolio of work.
For the past month knowing that Feb 10th is my deadline so I’ve been unsubscribing regularly. I am conscious how much more work it is to monitor one additional email account. I’ll be back to two main ones, and one I use for a business where I consult from time to time. That feels easier.
Photo taken in Schroeder, MN where the maples show us beautiful rituals of letting go.
As I do this, it’s been kind of nostalgic to walk back through projects and files that I started from 2018 to 2021 marking a period of experimentation with a number of offerings. 2022 feels like a year where I may “land” a bit more and embrace a couple of main areas. At the same time, I am looking for a nice ritual of letting go to mark the occasion. I don’t know about you, but rituals of completion feel important to me.
So often I feel excited to head off into the next big challenge, but then I leave “open containers” along the way. Then they continue to exist in the background, taking up bandwidth like the extra windows we have opened, or those apps we forget to close. It’s no wonder our brains start to feel tired and burdened.
I like rituals involving fire. Safe ones, of course, but I’m considering how to mark this occasion as a burning away of old pressures, identities, obligations. I haven’t decided on how to do that yet, but I’m curious if you do this type of thing to mark the end of a project or effort, and what feels right.
Can you share with me any ideas that you find especially helpful?
I told my husband this morning: Kamala Harris will be inaugurated today!
And also: Joe Biden. Yeah. I’m not gonna lie. I am more excited about her, and what she represents than I am about Joe himself. Joe made a choice that many saw as a risk. He saw her as the future, not a risk. I wholeheartedly agree.
And I have to admit it brought tears to my eyes that Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina on the Supreme Court, did the swearing in ceremony. Firsts, but not lasts.
I had to capture this moment, as I took a personal holiday for myself (in my p.j.’s).
Lots of work to do for this administration. But I’m grateful that we can finally rest from the daily ravings of a disturbed man who believes everything is about him. While there are divisions in this country, Biden’s speech indicated a need for coming together.
We face challenges in the months and the years ahead. But I am grateful that this feels like a breath of fresh air, leadership with dignity and decency after the ego-driven, self-centered and self-interested approach of “Sideshow Donald.” I’m not sure what made him that way, but he mirrors the part of our country that is determined to hang onto white body supremacy.
Now it is time to acknowledge that history and the hurt these policies have caused, to comprehend the depths of the disparities that are showing up in health care, education, employment, and the criminal justice system. Can we be in a place of “yes, AND” rather than “either/or” instead of polarizing? I sure hope so.
No matter the challenges ahead, I’m taking time today to celebrate!
I hope you are well and are enjoying some New Year’s Eve peace and joy. As we bring this year to a close I know many of us are hoping that 2021 brings a little more lightness and brightness than 2020.
As someone who treasures time alone or in small groups, this was a year of relative freedom for me. While being released from a job can be stressful for many, I was grateful to have solid savings and unemployment funds to tide me over during the transition to my next venture.
I began a team coaching certification program in September at The Medici Group, which I will complete in February 2021. I enjoyed teaching yoga online through Healing Within Acupuncture & Wellness Studios. I provided personal coaching services to a few 1:1 clients, and I had lots of time for my favorite things: reading books, writing and snuggling on the couch with my hubby, with no pressure to be social.
I co-taught yoga sessions like “De-Stress for the Holidays” (available free on YouTube) with yoga sisters Amy Klous and Krista Steinbach, and connected with other wellbeing professionals at Ikigai Lab. I worked with my lovely coach, Stephanie, founder of Our Natural Wisdom. And I re-discovered my sense of purpose and mastery that led to me leaving a corporate position in 2018 to pursue my own endeavors.
One day, upon being asked (once again) for a bio prior to a presentation I was about to give, I threw up my hands in despair. Why do people keep wanting me to define myself based on my past? Seriously, it is an existential and also a practical question. I prefer to define myself based on my vision for the future. So I wondered if I might create community and offerings around embracing everyone’s gifts, not defining people based on roles, job titles or diagnoses.
As someone with variable attention (which I do not consider a deficit, as a diagnosis might suggest) I struggle to BE just one thing. I enjoy so many things, and my creativity is enhanced by my ability to see the connections between things. And while I am “mexi-minnesotana,” it is only ONE aspect of my personality, not the totality of me.
And I know this is true of YOU also! You are not just a mother, a sister, a teacher, a writer, a caregiver, an employee. You are a multi-dimensional, beautiful human being! Can we all take a moment to celebrate that? Okay, now carry on with your day. 🙂
While I know my business will evolve over time, for now I plan to write, speak and advocate for those of us that refuse to be tamed and tethered by the terms others use to define us. We will together Unleash, Unlearn, and Enliven. The world needs us, and it is time to step out of the shadows and be our full selves.
Grateful for the supportive community here that has actively championed my contributions here for 3+ years. Much love to you all!
On the playground of life, there are always bullies. Sadly, though adults might be expected outgrow this insecure need to dominate others around them to feel safe, some never do.
Watching this play out at a national level has been something to witness. I am one of the many people who breathed a sigh of relief last Saturday as it became clear that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had won the electoral vote. This was an indication, both from the popular vote and the electoral vote, that Americans are ready for the adults to resume control of our democracy.
Though clearly the bully-in-chief is not ready to vacate. No, indeed as stated prior to the election, the current occupier of the office had told us he would accept no outcome but victory.
Taken on a walk back in June 2020.
While some are shocked that he refuses to use any modicum of decency and responsible leadership, most of us expected this to happen. Not that we hoped for it, but it is not the shock that some journalists seem to express for this behavior.
Bullies do not concede because they cannot accept any reality that brushes them aside as irrelevant. The ego of a bully is fragile, driven by fear and narcissism. And yet: it has cowed many other Republicans into remaining quiet, or to deferring to being “within his rights” to investigate non-substantiated allegations of fraud.
They are scared. They know what can happen to non-loyalists. And they know that a peaceful transfer of power is likely given our constitution. Our institutions of democracy are not so fragile that we need to spend our energy worrying, tempting though it might be.
These days I need to carefully manage my news consumption, and limit it to daily doses such as “Consider This” from NPR. Otherwise, I can “go down the rabbit hole” of media. I realize that is unhealthy, and it does not serve me.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage across the nation, and rural hospitals are especially challenged during this time, I am sad that the obstruction of this transition only hurts Americans. While I am relieved that the adults will resume control of the office in 2 months, I also grieve the losses we will face in the meantime.
With the uncertainty and virus concerns, many of us exist in a new reality. Even if we might worked at home before now and then, now we are possibly sharing space with more people.
We don’t necessarily have the “commute bumper” of our day to delineate starting and stopping anymore. For some of us, maybe the dining room is now our makeshift office. Pets or children may interrupt us many times a day, not understanding that it’s a Tuesday, not a weekend!
It does not help that the news can be grim, and that we worry about the state of our health, our loved ones, and of just how the world will “recover” from such a disruption. While we may be able to focus on certain aspects of our work during the day, we cannot totally keep from wondering… what is next?
During this period of collective upheaval and change it is important to schedule self-care into our day. I’m writing this while snow swirls outside in Minnesota as we speak. So while a walk would be lovely and I highly encourage that as a routine for before or after your workday, or after lunch, it does not always appeal.
Other things you can do include taking a break and making a cup of tea, and allowing yourself to step away from your desk. Grab a journal and write out your thoughts, or draft a screenplay scene with yourself as the protagonist.
If you’re like me, you will add yoga or other movement as part of your day. There are onlineNIA classes you might take. Perhaps some quiet meditation or listening to some soothing music will help you calm and center. Or engaging your creativity by getting out the paints or even some play-doh (remember kindergarten?) will give your mind a rest.
Whatever you decide to do, realize that these self-care activities are not optional. They are not frivolous, because they provide a respite from our left hemispheric thinking, which can be unrelenting. While thinking and problem-solving are wonderful aspects of our human capacity, over-emphasis can lead to anxiety, a focus on doing rather than being, and sometimes even insomnia.
I wish you well. I hope you experiment with and discover the activities that nourish your whole self, and nurture calm, clarity and resilience. I would love to hear about your favorite ways to relax in the comments below!
Take much care,
Cristy
P.S. If you have not already found online yoga options and want to join a live community of people via Zoom to practice restorative or slow flowyoga online, please join my email list (cristy@meximinnesotana.com) to get a free class offer. Or you can sign up for asliding fee yoga class here. No prior experience necessary. Thank you for your interest!
mexi minnesotana 