Pumping Pistons

My son is really into trains, his favorite story/movie is "The Little Engine That Could". In the movie, there is a part where the little steam engine can't move because she has a leak and no water left in her tank. I relate to her dilemma this week. So the question is How do I get this creativity train moving?

Fueling Up
Finding a way to fuel up seems like a good place to start. Ahh earl grey tea, possibly not strong enough to get my engine purring. I think the real problem is that once the momentum stopped, and the juice from the initial creative high was gone, it got a lot harder to stay motivated. And everyone knows that nothing is as good as that initial high. The refuel, isn't the same.

The Obstacle
The trailer project seems to be going a lot slower then anticipated. The curtains need to be readjusted for a third time, as I need to do final adjustments on the length, now that I figured out how I'm going to hang them. Yesterday, I went to do some work in the trailer and found evidence that a mouse was taking up residence, gross. So I'm not feeling the flow.

Do it Anyways
"Do it anyways" is a phrase I've told myself through the years to trek though the mud of inertia. That phrase inspired me to move past my excuses in a variety of circumstances. For example, when I committed to doing a 6 day yoga practice, starting at 6 am. Often, I wouldn't want to get up and had every excuse in the book of why I should skip it and sleep in. That phrase helped me disassociate with that part of my brain that was impeding my practice and my state of being. If I caved, sure I enjoyed the extra sleep, but afterwards, I felt like I failed myself. (I'd give anything for that 6-day a week morning practice now, but with a toddler that's not in the cards for the moment.)

Discipline Trumps Inspiration
So that is the plan, not to sleep in, but to do it anyways. There's still plenty that needs to be done. ...And instead of waiting for inspiration, I'll just keep on keepin' on. At least my train is on the track, even if I'm not feeling the groove. (Maybe if I upgrade to coffee?) That part isn't as important anyways. I'm showing up for myself by sticking to my commitment and that's what is important. The greater goal is that I aspire to live more creatively. Expecting inspiration to always be there is unrealistic. That is what discipline is for. After many struggles to get out of bed with the yoga thing, I never once regretted actually going to class. We tend to regret only the things that we don't do anyways. Thomas Edison says genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. Sri K. Pattabhi Jois says yoga is 99% practice, 1% thereoy. So here I go pumping my pistons towards becoming the better version of me. Chug, chug, chug, puff, puff, puff, I think I can, I think I can...

Trailer Remodel Update:

Curtains: 

Ugg, I'll get back to you when I have something nice to say.

Dividing Curtain:

I cheated on this one by literally cutting the ugly old curtain off of the hardware and hand-sewing the new curtains on... 

Building the Business Update:

Check out the logos that my beautiful friend Belinda Pearl did for me. She is an amazing artist, and super easy and fun to work with. I created a pinterest board with my logo inspirations and from that she came up with some ideas that we collaborated on together. Here are the winners...

Actually, her first attempt for the website logo, is the one I ended up going with, even though she kindly humored me with my ideas for alternative renditions. I didn't start out even wanting a logo for the blog, but I loved the second choice so much, that it seemed perfect. (All we needed to do was switch out "living" for "events") I am very pleased with these! So a big thanks to Belinda!!!

Check out the new business card that I made with the new logo...

I'm not sure if going greyscale was the best option or not?? Here's what it looks like in full color. Thoughts? 

Light, love and laughter,

Lisa Ratner