As one of my Christmas presents in 2010, Jeff got me a beautiful calendar by Betsy Dunlap. The calendar is so special, with hand drawings and lettering. There are four 7×7 pieces and this weekend I finally got around to trimming them down and framing them. Some new artwork for $12.00!
While we were visiting friends in Durham, North Carolina over New Years weekend, we went to an Intentional Living Community about an hour from Chapel Hill called Blue Heron Farm. Jeff and I kept checking in with each other while we were there with glances and smiles and it was clear we were both intrigued. As we toured a small portion of the 64 acres and a few of the homes on the property, we learned that the farm started about 15 years ago. The house where we had lunch was saved from being knocked down from highway development – it was purchased for $5000 and moved for $7000! Jeff and I have talked about prefab homes before but we never knew about being able to move houses. Learning about that alone made the trip worthwhile and being surrounded by like-minded people, babies, nature, food and lots of love was icing on the cake.
“True community is not simply an aggregate of people… but people which have made a commitment to communicate more authentically, more intimately, more vulnerably.” – M. Scott Peck, A Different Drum
Tomorrow I will join 30,000 people in a 10-mile race through Philadelphia on Broad Street. Prior to training for this race, I had never run further than 3.1 miles and honestly, I strongly dislike running. Many people have asked me why I signed up for the race and believe me, I’ve asked myself the same question many times over the past four months.
I often think about Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” I’m always up for a challenge and pushing myself to places I didn’t think were possible. I remember after completing 2.5 miles a couple of years ago while training for a 5k, I told myself, “If I can run 2.5 miles, I can do anything!” Oh those little milestones…
To be completely transparent with you, I’m nervous because the biggest challenge I face is combating my negative thoughts. Does anyone else have a harmful script they go over in their mind? Sometimes I get in a weird head space where I say to myself, “I can’t do this, I hate running, this sucks, why did I sign up for this?” To get ideas, I’ve asked as many people as possible what they think about or what they listen to while running and have heard everything from “I listen to pod-casts” to “I do math problems in my head.” What I have found works for me is focusing on my breathing and listening to rock-’n'-roll. I also have a few mantras such as “my heartbeat is calm and strong” and “you can do this, my legs are strong, be grateful.” Sometimes it works for me and sometimes my mind gives up before my body. Let’s hope tomorrow it’s the former.
Wish me luck!
