Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Moving Through Change

Being a freelancer, I'm accustomed to change. Clients come and go. My schedule varies from week to week. One day I'm in an office full of employees at a meeting, the next three weeks I'm flying solo in my office. One day I'm interviewing a doctor at the Mayo Clinic about natural supplements to lower cholesterol, the next day is spent on business like invoices and contracts

The freelance life isn't for everybody. But I am grateful for the flexibility, the spontaneity, and the unknowing-ness of it all. It makes me feel alive, and gives the illusion of freedom. I could be a day away from the biggest job of my life, or a black hole where the phone doesn't ring.

In the midst of this constantly changing schedule, I am thinking about the things that don't change, the things that add a rhythm and consistency to my days and weeks:

1. My morning cup of coffee.
2. The Sunday newspaper— Styles section first, then Week in Review, then Front Page, and Arts.
3. Dinner with my family.
4. A morning stretch and intention.

I'm holding on to these simple things amidst bigger changes; a new house, a new city, a new baby, a new routine, a new job opportunity. It's these things that keep me grounded, and steady.

Enjoy what changes, and what stays the same. For now.

My Job Is So Cool!

Part of the reason I love freelancing is because I come across such a diverse, interesting, and inspirational group of people doing visionary things. Here are a few people I've been meeting with over the past few weeks:

Institute for Health & Healing
www.myhealthandhealing.com
Part of CPMC, the Institute for Health & Healing is an integrative medical dedicated to treating the whole person, not just symptoms. If you go, you can have a team of people, from an acupuncturist to a massage therapist. They also have an employee wellness program, so staff can get chair massage, discounts on integrative medical services, and workshops on stress reduction.

One Medical:
www.onemedical.md/sf
Very cool idea: Paying an annual fee for a medical practice that delivers no wait times, same-day appointments, online scheduling and medical records. Say goodbye to the dreaded phone-tree, tedious paperwork and rushed appointments. This is the doctor's office of the future.

Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health
kripalu.org I have amazing memories of a week spent here a few weeks ago; think fall leaves, a beautiful lake, and the best massage you've ever gotten. This amazing retreat center in the Berkshires, has all sorts of workshops and programs, bodywork, and seminars.

The Dance of Life

I interviewed the yoga teacher Shiva Rea yesterday for an article I'm writing. She was talking about balancing the life of a householder, a spiritual practitioner who has a family. She said:

"Most parents would love to do everything with more energy than we have in that moment. The house never seems to get perfectly clean. Some things come together while some things are falling apart. It’s a dance."

For me, it's trying to accept those moments where things are falling apart — and be OK with it.

We are moving from an apartment to a house, and everything seems to be falling apart — my routine, my comfort zones, and the apartment is a wreck. I want to remember to be graceful in this dance, laugh while things fall apart, and embrace what comes next.

Have a joyful holiday!

Nora

It's been two years since I last blogged. Since then, I've had a book tour, worked steadily, and had a (second) baby. But I'm still trying to take advice from my book, Women in Overdrive, about keeping snippets of unscheduled time to relax. Doesn't leave much time for blogging.

I just finished a project writing and editing
the website for Essential
Parenting, founded by Chris White. He's been studying
medicine, psychology, and eastern religions for 15 years, and has
synthesized his parenting philosophy into what he calls Essential
Parenting. The basic idea is that in order to be the best parent you
can, you need to work on your own issues before you pass them along to
your child.

The project was fun because Chris has a wild, brilliant and sometimes
meandering mind, and it was my job to craft his ideas into a coherent
message. I'll sign off with a quote from his site, by Martha Graham.

There
is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through
you into action, and there is only one of you in all time. This
expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through
any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have
it.

What Keeps us from Slowing Down?

It's the holidays again, and I often think about slowing down at this time. It's this odd juxtaposition of everything speeding up around me-- shopping, parties, and traffic—while at the same time other things are slowing down: Less work comes my way between Christmas and New Year, and my husband and friends take off from work, giving the time a special feelig. This year, I experimented with making the holidays less stressful, and it worked! Here's what I did:

1. Ordered all of my presents online
2. When I went to visit family, I made sure that I got some exercise andnapped every day, even if it meant opting out of some activities.
3. Didn't check my email for a week.
4. Only went to holiday parties that I really wanted to go to.
5. Took an afternoon off to write meaningful cards to certain people in my life.

That's it. Pretty simple, but I feel relaxed and happy!

Nora on View From the Bay: January 10th on ABC7

Tune in for a segment on Women in Overdrive on January 10th; I'll be talking about slowing down and giving a few reasonable tips.