Bliss List - TGIF!

From Liv Lane's Bliss List postings: Every Friday, the Little Bliss List provides a chance for us to celebrate the little things that brought us hope and happiness this week. I do believe when we focus on the sweet stuff of life, the sweet stuff multiplies. And by sharing those small gifts in our lives, we help others notice the gifts in theirs. 

Hi everyone!  This has been a challenging week, but in a good way.  I don't have a long list this week, but I am definitely grateful for a lot of things.

1. As you all know, I am a huge fan of Patti Digh, have taken a telecourse from her, have followed her blogs, her books and her Facebook. I'm going to be taking her VerbTribe course in April.  I'm so grateful to her for being so open and sharing so much of herself. It is inspiring and empowering to have someone to look to for guidance, support and inspiration.  I want to be a better person and I owe a lot of that to her.

2.  I love the television show "Friends".  I was slow to the show when it was on, but after Roby died, I became a huge fan. It helped me feel closer to him and now, I just love it because it is funny and fun with just the right mixture of silliness and seriousness.

3.  I am grateful for the people I work with.  I am fortunate to work with a bunch of professionals in person everyday who inspire me to be my best self. It isn't always easy, but I love it.  In addition, I have a support network of people across the country who make me laugh, lift me up and help me see different perspectives.  I feel like I have support from all sides and that really made a difference for me this week.

4.  Bliss consisted of some good, well-earned sleep this week.  I slept like a rock and I am very happy about that.

5.  I'm grateful this week to anyone who comes here to visit.  I love the blog and I really value the connections I have made here. Thank you!

Go to www.livlane.com to see where it all started!

#Trust30 Day 15: One Thing

#Trust30 is an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. Use this as an opportunity to reflect on your now, and to create direction for your future. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders will guide you on your writing journey. Sign up below to receive the prompts by email. If you like this pledge, check out reverb10, it's inspiring. 

One Thing by Colin Wright

Do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself. – Ralph Waldo Emerson


Take a moment, step back from your concerns, and focus on one thing: You have one life to achieve everything you’ve ever wanted. Sounds simple, but when you really focus on it, let it seep into your consciousness, you realize you only have about 100 years to get every single thing you’ve ever wanted to do. No second chances. This is your only shot. Suddenly, this means you should have started yesterday. No more waiting for permission or resources to start. Today is the day you make the rest of your life happen. Write down one thing you’ve always wanted to do and how you will achieve that goal. Don’t be afraid to be very specific in how you’ll achieve it: once you start achieving, your goals will get bigger and your capability to meet them will grow.


(Author: Colin Wright)

I have to start reading these prompts in the morning so that I will have time to think about my answers and try to answer them seriously.

Right now, I have two goals that I have long wanted to accomplish - to write a book and to finish my degree.  I don't know how/where/when to start writing my book and I don't even have a twinkle of an idea right now, so I will start with the less "sexy" goal of finishing my degree.

The first thing I need to do is get my transcripts looked at and then I need to determine how I want to do it. I used to think online would be the best way, but I spend so much time online, now I think maybe it would be better to actually spend some time in class with live bodies.  I should take a class a term...but first, I need to get my transcripts looked at.

That's all I have in me tonight. Perhaps I will revisit this tomorrow.

#Trust30 Day 14: Alternative Paths

#Trust30 is an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. Use this as an opportunity to reflect on your now, and to create direction for your future. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders will guide you on your writing journey.  If you like this pledge, check out reverb10, it's inspiring. 

Alternative Paths by Jonathan Fields

When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. - Ralph Waldo Emerson


The world buzzes about goals and visions. Focus. Create a vivid picture of exactly where you want to go. Dream big, then don’t let anything or anyone stop you. The problem, as Daniel Gilbert wrote in Stumbling Upon Happiness, is that we’re horrible at forecasting how we’ll really feel 10 or 20 years from now – once we’ve gotten what we dreamed of. Often, we get there only to say, “That’s not what I thought it would be,” and ask, “What now?” Ambition is good. Blind ambition is not. It blocks out not only distraction, but the many opportunities that might take you off course but that may also lead you in a new direction. Consistent daily action is only a virtue when bundled with a willingness to remain open to the unknown. In this exercise, look at your current quest and ask, “What alternative opportunities, interpretations and paths am I not seeing?” They’re always there, but you’ve got to choose to see them.


(Author: Jonathan Fields)

Right now, I am working on enjoying life a little. I worked so hard and so long.  Now, my alternative paths involve art, enjoyment, some fun. Some "me" time.  Maybe there are some alternative ways to pursue these things. I will have to choose to find them.

#Trust30 Day 6: Come Alive

#Trust30 is an online initiative and 30-day writing challenge that encourages you to look within and trust yourself. Use this as an opportunity to reflect on your now, and to create direction for your future. 30 prompts from inspiring thought-leaders will guide you on your writing journey. Sign up below to receive the prompts by email. If you like this pledge, check out reverb10, it's inspiring.

Come Alive by Jonathan Mead

Life wastes itself while we are preparing to live. – Ralph Waldo Emerson


If you had one week left to live, would you still be doing what you are doing now? In what areas of your life are you preparing to live? Take them off your To Do list and add them to a To Stop list. Resolve to only do what makes you come alive.


Bonus: How can your goals improve the present and not keep you in a perpetual “always something better” spiral?


(Author: Jonathan Mead)

If I had a week left to live, I would rent the condo at the beach, take my favorite movies and musicals and my art journal and I would take off until the end. I would probably just sit on the balcony most of the time listening to the waves. I would invite friends and family to come on over so we could tell some stories and say whatever we needed to.

Even though I am not currently living at the beach doing nothing (who can afford to do that ALL THE TIME), I feel pretty good about where I'm at right now. When I feel like I'm not "living", I figure out what I need to do and I try to do it - make time to be with friends, enjoy art, take a class, visit my friends out of town, take off to the beach a couple of times a year.  I'm not there 100% of the time, but I don't spend a lot of time thinking about "someday". You never know, so it is better to try to keep up as you go along.

This is Real Life

This is real life. Go read the blog, look at the photos, watch the video.

When I started reading the blog, I felt a physical pull and when I close my eyes, I can see the hospital waiting room where Roby was. Through my tears for Eva, I wished that blogging and laptops and this constant recording of our lives had been around back then.  I have vivid memories of the days and nights we spent, watching, waiting.  We didn't take pictures.  Only a few. Roby didn't want people to think of him sick.

When I measure the days and times and value of life sometimes, I measure it against the condensed life of having an ill person in my life. Everything is stronger and longer and shorter and the meaning is distilled. Emotionally, I was more myself than at any other time in my life - I was doing the thing I was meant to do in the world. It is an incredible honor and an amazing and heartbreaking opportunity.

I keep reminding myself that I don't have to wait, to try to live strong every day. It is hard to remember daily. It is harder to practice that kind of mindfulness daily.  It is the only way to really live.  As I send out a prayer for Eva and her family, I send her thanks for helping remind me, again, that life is precious and I shouldn't forget it.  Thanks to Patti for posting this today.