Bring on the Magic!!

Every year in January since I was about 30, I have created a vision board--basically a visual snapshot of what you want to experience in your life (athletes and top entertainers do this all the time to help them focus on and meet their goals). Martha Beck--life coach extraordinaire shares here on why vision boards can be so powerful and how to create your own.

Last year I didn't do a vision board. I just forgot. But this year, thanks to my good friend women's empowerment diva Deb Kern for creating the space for this to happen, I did.

Everyone approaches vision boards differently, but I like to choose one word that captures how I want to feel or what I want to experience in the coming year.

This year my word is MAGIC, which I'm defining as having other-worldly, "pinch me," fantastic, supernatural occurrences unfold on a regular basis. 

Why? Professionally, I've got a superhuman job in front of me over the course of the next 5 months (a new book launch and two other large scale projects--any one of which is enough to send someone over the cliff's edge) and I know that in order to move into and through this period of incredible growth and expansion AND keep both my sanity and sense of joy--I'm going to have to have the unimaginable become common place.

One of the ways I am already experiencing MAGIC unfolding is through the amazing support that's flooding in from top-notch professionals, experts and colleagues (that was fast, I just finished my board on Wednesday!) Look forward to much more where that came from.

Got a word or mantra you want to invite into your New Year? Share it on our Live Inside Out Facebook community. It's fun to read what others are focusing on and to imagine us all collectively creating the most delicious stew imaginable as we pour our intentions into my big orange Le Creuset pot. I'll make the cornbread and salad, join me later this month for supper?

Wondering what we do and how you can work with me and my team?

• Join or become certified to facilitate Personal Renewal Groups and retreats for women (our introductory price ends Jan. 31st--learn more) 
• Sign up for a retreat or online class  or check out all our life balance resources
  
• Get 1-on-1 support:  contact one of our career or life balance coaches for individual support; receive an initial complimentary consult
• Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization 

Subscribe to Live Inside Out, a weekly blog about coach/author/speaker Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out.

Photo: my 2013 MAGIC vision board.

People First, Things Second

As a life balance teacher, I'm always questioning how I can help myself and others come into greater equilibrium--not just around work and life, but around feeling and thinking, being and doing, and giving and receiving.

Yesterday morning I found myself standing in my front doorway staring out at a beautiful oak tree. Bathed in sunlight, I held a cup of lemon ginger tea in one hand and my to-do list in the other.

 

I was waiting for a friend that I was helping out of a financial jam, and beginning to wonder how crucial this hot list of tasks I was holding--that had seemed so important earlier in the day--really were. 
 

The moment felt big and pregnant (ever have those?) and I had the strong sensation that I was being asked to stop everything … and become present to what life was trying to tell me.

 

Over the last few days, I’ve been surrounded by close friends and dear acquaintances who are struggling with big stuff. Life or death stuff. Fork in the road stuff. Questions that don’t have easy or quick answers stuff.

 

One of my son’s teachers lost her 19 year-old son in a fatal car accident right before Thanksgiving (this touched me deeply as my brother was the same age when he died). A close colleague is struggling financially to pay even her basic bills. Another friend has been battling depression and is in limbo around her life purpose and direction. One of my childhood friends is navigating the holidays with her kids after the loss of her husband 5 months ago. Another dear friend, a mother to two young kids, is working herself to the bone and having a hard time seeing a way out of a never ending cycle of overwork.

 

Standing here, frozen in this moment, I'm racked with the questions, "What can I do? How can I best help?" And as I write personal notes to them, leave messages and emails, offer prayers and resources--I'm reminded that this work, however small and insignificant it may feel--is more important than any task, deadline or to-do. Being here for each other is the most important thing there is.

 

So my prayer as I move through December--a time when we're all a bit more tender--is “Guide me how to best serve and help my brothers and sisters who are in my life right now." Because we don't have to go to Africa or a low-income area or a disadvantaged school to find people in need.

 

Help is needed right here, right now and often those whose paths we cross daily are hurting and in dire need of a kind word or deed. But unless we drop the "Gotta get it done" mentality long enough to be fully present and *really* see those around us, we'll miss the call for help altogether. Like I almost did this past week.

Have you heard about the I CHOOSE LOVE public service campaign? It's a reminder that when we come from love--one of the most powerful yet underutilized forces on the planet--we have the ability to transcend fear and remember what we're really hear to do: give and receive love. Learn more and order a tshirt (at cost).

I love to hear from, connect with and meet Live Inside Out readers at our events. I invite you to:

• Find Your Tribe: Join or learn to facilitate Personal Renewal Groups for women
• Attend a retreat/event this spring or hire Renee to create one for your group
• Learn about Live Inside Out and receive weekly inspiration on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up my life balance title The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here or at your local bookstore
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter or Career Management newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization
• Subscribe to Live Inside Out, a weekly blog about coach/author/speaker Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out.

Note: this post was modified from a post that ran in December 2011. It felt especially timely right now.

Sustainability ... for Self

The next twelve months will be a time of incredible growth and expansion for me--personally and professionally.

And sensing this, over the weekend, I woke up Sunday morning feeling stress and anxiety course through my body as I anticipated all of the travel and events, book-related deadlines and challenges and opportunities that come from supporting a team and business during  a time of extreme growth. 

I know some of the keys to enhancing peace in everyday life for me--and navigating unusually full times--are practicing living in the "now", being willing to embrace radical self-care, surrendering and remembering to balance being vs. doing.

And I practice these tools (as often as I can remember to do so!).

But I don't want to do "business as usual" this fall and spring--my two busiest times. I really desire to keep embracing a new way of being AND to make sure that I'm choosing support that will truly nourish and sustain me.

Sustainability is sometimes defined as the capacity to endure; the long-term maintenance of responsibility (and I would add: to self).

I don't want to just "survive" and make it through the next twelve months, I want to land on the other side of the river yes--wiser and more learned--but also replenished and nourished. I want to feel like I've been very, very kind to myself--and that when September 2013 arrrives, that I've arrived on new soil with fresh tools and perspectives. That I've come into a higher expression of who I am.

T.S. Eliot said,

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started 
And know the place for the first time.

So what will truly sustain--not just get me through--the next year? I'm still working on this list, but for now some of "musts" include:

• saying "no," more; conserving my energy
• tapping the counsel of wise ones (I just set up regular appointments for the next 3 months with my "presence coach") and make lots of time for friends
• doing a ton of yoga, dance, qi gong, walking and conscious movement
• planning some nature-infused weekend getaways NOW--that my family and I can look forward to for deep relaxation

Just saying out loud that I'm committed to reflecting on "sustainability for self" during this upcoming stretch--makes me feel better already.

I'm off to book a cabin in the Fort Davis, TX mountains for Thanksgiving weekend (they have some of the darkest skies in the United States); seeing thousands of stars at night always helps me put things in perspective and remember what truly matters most.
 
INVITE: Interested in learning how to live more intentionally and create sustainability for self? Join me Oct. 19-21 for our New Way of Being: Women's Self-Renewal Retreat if you want to join us at the beautiful Kripalu Center for Yoga & Wellness in Massachusetts! Peak leaf turning time! I'd love to hold the space for you to rest, connect with your needs and desires--and hear what your Wise Self most wants you to know.

I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:

• Find Your Tribe: Join or learn to facilitate Personal Renewal Groups for women
• Attend a retreat/event this fall or spring
• Learn about Live Inside Out and receive weekly inspiration on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up my life balance title The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here or at your local bookstore
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter or Career Management newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization
• I Choose Love PSA: a reminder that when we come from love--one of the most powerful yet underutilized forces on the planet--we have the ability to transcend fear and remember what we're really hear to do: give and receive love. Learn more

Subscribe to The Journey, a weekly blog about coach/author/speaker Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out.

Photo at top: September has always felt like a time of new beginnings for me--here's to doing it different and starting fresh.

Is Facebook Changing Who You Are?

Last Saturday, after an early morning family walk and outing, I came home, showered, put away the groceries and posted the following on my personal Facebook page: "Early morning family hike around east Town Lake Trail (beautiful rowing on calm waters!), explored new buildings/architecture downtown and enjoyed tacos at Galaxy in
Clarksville, all before 10:00 a.m.--it's amazing what can happen when you rise with the sun!

A short while later, I felt off, slightly sick to my stomach and sensed a strange almost "warning" sensation roll through my body.

During lunch with my husband and son, I asked, "Why did I just do that?" Was I feeling lonely and seeking acknowledgment, was I wanting to illustrate a value (I am a big advocate for the healing power of nature), was I wanting to look cool or hip with the family set (yes, we spend a lot of time downtown--look at us!) or was I slipping into a new habit of mindlessly hopping on Facebook more than I ever have before?

Dr. Sherry Turkle, former WIRED cover girl and author of Alone Together studies the social and psychological effects of technology. (Watch her famous TED talk here.) One point Sherry made--that I can't shake--is that social media/technology is not just changing how we interact, it's changing who we are. There's a danger with us only showing the "shiny versions" of ourselves. The hip highlights of our lives.  This way of being with each other is affecting how we perceive ourselves and one another. We're messy, peanut-butter covered, sometimes irritable and often awkward, inappropriate and raw humans --not Pinterest pictures.

In the airport traveling earlier this summer, I picked up the Atlantic Magazine issue,"Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?"  No, I don't think Facebook is making us lonely.
But, we may be making ourselves lonely by substituting surface-level, virtual high-fives for real time, heart-felt, "warts and all," conversation. Social media can give us the illusion that we're connecting but we're going broad--not deep. And it's leaving many of us (whether we realize it or not) void of real connection. It can be a great tool for the self-employed, community organizing and for keeping in touch with old classmates or colleagues in NY or Munich, but it isn't a substitute for real friendships (many research studies reveal that people who have confidants they regularly connect with are actually healthier and live longer).

Last summer, I spent almost a month researching what overuse and misuse of technology --TV, Internet, iPhones, video games, social media--is doing to our hearts and spirits; how it's affecting our emotional health (the findings, particularly around boys and video games and Internet porn were alarming). I also explored how our habits are affecting who we are and how we connect when we're not online. Many are sharing they feel so speeded up from always being plugged in, they're finding it harder to be present and just "be." (Shameless plug coming: my new book "Nurturing the Soul of Your Family: 10 Ways to Reconnect and Find Peace in Everyday Life" from New World Library, will be in bookstores in March. Check out Chapter Three on People first, Things Second: The Digital Divide.)

Last week, I attended a content strategy meeting for entrepreneurs where the speaker said our businesses should each be disseminating 403 pieces of information annually to our target audience. As I watched the 55 attendees furiously adding this "to do" item to their iPhone task lists, I felt a chill go down my spine as I quickly calculated what this tidal wave of tweets, posts and articles would look and feel like if every business owner on the planet took this counsel to heart.

Why is all this so triggering for me (yes, I admit it is!)? I spend a lot of energy helping women/men around the US discover how to tether and anchor within themselves--how to find their center in the midst of chaos and uncertainty.  As I life balance teacher, I'm passionate about supporting people in finding more harmony and peace in their everyday lives and I believe our growing addiction to social media is contributing greatly to our feelings of disconnect and unhappiness.

Most of us have a love/hate relationship with these tools. I don't think the answer is unplugging completely (although I applaud those who have the courage/ability
to do this) but for me my recent experience and observation made me want ask and sit with some big questions. To pause before I post (or even get online). And to observe how I feel before and after I enter the Facebook circus.

My mom's words, "Just because everyone else is jumping off the cliff into the sea, doesn't mean you have to" --echo in my mind as I explore this topic.

My friend Leah told me she recently had a rare girls night out dinner with her neighbors. After being seated at the restaurant, everyone at the table picked up their iPhones and started texting their husbands, taking photos and tagging one another and updating their FB status, while Leah sat quietly in disbelief. Napkin in lap, wine glass full, candles flickering, she was ready for heartfelt conversation--but it seemed the allure of connecting with a larger party was superseding the one that was happening in the moment.
   
INVITE: Interested in learning how to Find Your Center? Join me Oct. 19-21 for our New Way of Being: Women's Self-Renewal Retreat if you want to join us at the beautiful Kripalu Center for Yoga & Wellness in Massachusetts! Peak leaf turning time! I'd love to hold the space for you to rest, connect with your needs and desires--and hear what your Wise Self most wants you to know.

P.S. Have a background in PR/Communications and interested in joining the all-women Renee Trudeau & Associates team this fall? Learn more about our Part-Time PR Coordinator Position.

I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:

• Find Your Tribe: Join or learn to facilitate Personal Renewal Groups for women
• Attend a retreat/event this fall or spring
• Learn about Live Inside Out and receive weekly inspiration on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up my life balance title The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here or at your local bookstore
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter or Career Management newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization
• I Choose Love PSA: a reminder that when we come from love--one of the most powerful yet underutilized forces on the planet--we have the ability to transcend fear and remember what we're really hear to do: give and receive love. Learn more

Subscribe to The Journey, a weekly blog about coach/author/speaker Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out.

Photo at top: An artist's interpretation of being together but alone.

Nora's Story: My First Women's Retreat

Ever wonder what happens at our Women's Self-Renewal Retreats? Curious why someone would carve out time, line up child and/or parent care and jump through hoops to get away and spend a weekend with other women?

Nora Livesay, a mom and graduate student in the Linguistics PhD program at the University of Minnesota was the winner of our Year-of-Self-Care Mother’s Day Giveaway (read more and meet Nora).

She recently returned from our June 22-24 New Way of Being: Women’s Self-Renewal Retreat at the beautiful Kripalu Center for Yoga and Wellness and graciously offered to talk about her experience at her first women's retreat.

Nora, how was the Kripalu Women’s Retreat with Renee; what did you most enjoy? The retreat was an incredible gift that arrived at just the right moment in my life. I enjoyed so many things about the retreat that it's hard to pick one as most enjoyable. Perhaps it was the space created for reflection that the New Way of Being teachings and time away from all other distractions provided. I found myself finally slowing down enough physically and mentally to be able to hear the quiet voice of insight (what Renee calls “Your Wise Self”) in that space. And believe me, for someone with ADHD who feels a restless need to be constantly in motion, that's quite rare.

What pearls of wisdom or teachings did you most enjoy or take away? I took away three important teachings from the retreat that I want to embrace in my daily life. 

The first is to not just listen to my Wise Self but to allow and trust that quiet voice to guide my daily decisions. Over the past couple years of being in Sarina La Marche’s Minneapolis Personal Renewal Group, I have gotten better at attuning to that voice, but have had trouble trusting it. I've made excuses -- I'm too busy... I don't have the resources to make it happen..., etc. But at the end of the retreat, I drew an inspirational card from a basket that Renee sent around with the message "start delegating" and it then it clicked. I have to make space to allow and trust my own voice by delegating other responsibilities.

The second teaching I learned was that movement is a path for me to hear my own voice and to renew my energy. I've always known I was a kinesthetic learner -- that I learn best by doing. But I've also felt that with my ADHD, the constant movement of my body and thoughts was often a negative thing that got in the way of other goals. I've never thought of movement as a way to connect deeper until it happened during the retreat when we danced (Kripalu offers an awesome class called YogaDance). I want to challenge myself now to find ways to experience movement in a joyful way and to be purposeful in channeling my movement.

Lastly, the realization about movement also led to another, perhaps the most important. To be Nora Ellen, to be all of her. To me that means accepting and embracing all of who I am, even the parts of me I get frustrated with. Each day at the retreat, I walked past a quote on the wall that said, "Yoga is the practice of tolerating the consequences of being yourself." The Bhagavad Gita. It reminded me that I want to practice not just tolerating, but truly accepting all of me. And the first step is tolerating my mistakes and failures and challenging the negative dialogue in my mind.  Yesterday, I turned on the wrong burner on the stove (which I seem to do every single time I cook) and instead of heating the fry pan to cook my egg, I set the entire egg carton on fire. Luckily no damage was done, and I put out the egg carton in sink. Instead of berating myself, my family and I had a good laugh at my latest kitchen misadventure. It’s definitely about baby steps. 

What surprised you about the retreat (and have you attended retreats before)? I've never attended a retreat like this before. I was expecting lots of information to download and absorb, and to have the days filled up with activities or yoga, and instead I was surprised by how the teachings/exercises were spacious, how much I slept and how little I “did.” It felt like I was catching up on months’ worth of much needed rest. I was also surprised by the depth of caring and comfort that all the women held for each other in the circle. It was palpable, like a soothing balm on raw skin. 

I was also truly blessed to have one of the other women invite me to spend a couple days at her home in the mountains before I flew back to Minnesota. The time we spent together over the next two days was like an extension of the retreat and really helped me ease back into my everyday life. That we could form such a strong connection and friendship so quickly is really a testament to the power of the circle of women at the retreat and the compassionate, nurturing environment that was present.

Would you take another RTA retreat? Absolutely! I would definitely recommend Renee Trudeau’s retreat to others. I want to go back next year and bring my sisters and friends with me. Even if those I love aren't ready to take in the insights/tools, just the experience of being held in loving kindness by the women's circle and of being in a peaceful place away from the busy-ness of life would be well worth the trip/investment. If you've never done anything like this, do it!

What did you think of Kripalu? Kripalu is an oasis of peacefulness. The beauty of nature in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts, the simple, but comfortable accommodations, and the food -- the incredibly delicious food -- combine to make it such a restful and healing place. I'm already thinking about how to get back there for another retreat! (Huge thanks to the generous folks at Kripalu for donating our all-expense paid retreat for the Year-of-Self-Care giveaway!)

INVITE: Interested in having your own unique retreat experience? Join me Oct. 19-21 for our New Way of Being: Women's Self-Renewal Retreat if you want to join us at the beautiful Kripalu Center for Yoga & Wellness in Massachusetts! Peak leaf turning time! I'd love to hold the space for you to rest, connect with your needs and desires--and hear what your Wise Self most wants you to know.


P.S. Have a background in PR/Communications and interested in joining the all-women Renee Trudeau & Associates team this fall? Learn more about our Part-Time PR Coordinator Position.

 
I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:

• Find Your Tribe: Join or learn to facilitate Personal Renewal Groups for women
• Attend a retreat/event
• Learn about Live Inside Out and receive weekly inspiration on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up my life balance title The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here or at your local bookstore
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter or Career Management newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization
• I Choose Love PSA: a reminder that when we come from love--one of the most powerful yet underutilized forces on the planet--we have the ability to transcend fear and remember what we're really hear to do: give and receive love. Learn more

Subscribe to The Journey, a weekly blog about coach/author/speaker Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out.

Photos at top: The beautiful Nora Livesay; Kripalu June 2012 retreat participants on the front lawn at Kripalu after a writing exercise; colored mandalas from a few of the retreat participants.

I Am a Social Activist

This past Sunday my son and I stumbled upon Lady Gaga's new Born This Way initiative, launched recently at Harvard, which focuses on  heightening understanding around bullying and promoting a more compassionate society. It spurred a great conversation with my ten-year old around why people bully and what you can do when you see bullying.

That evening I brought my son to a GenAustin (Girls Empowerment Network Austin) community benefit: a discussion and preview of the new documentary Wonder Women:The Untold Story of American Superheroines. The event illuminated the lack of strong female heroines in the movies, media and comics and why this is. (To my delight, my son--an avid reader--leaned over halfway through the panel discussion and said incredulously, "Mom, I can't believe this, this happens in books, too!")

I had forgotten I'm a social activist (when I was in my twenties, I would drive around East Austin canvasing neighborhoods to encourage voter participation--nowadays, this energy is funnelled to helping men and women find balance).

In the Personal Renewal Groups I started in 2003--which are now meeting in more than eight countries worldwide--a favorite self-care group exercise used to be creating an I AM collage that colorfully represents all the facets of who we are: artist, sister, activist, creative diva, dancer, idea generator, singer, gardener, comic, cook, community organizer, yogini, daughter, mother, volunteer and more.

When you get consumed by work, family, parenting and just responding to what shows up in front of you moment to moment, it's easy to forget how interesting, complex and dynamic we all are.

The other night, a dear friend introduced me at a networking event using a title I haven't claimed in years. At first I felt the need to correct her and then I smiled. Ahhhh. She's a part of me, just like all the other parts and polarities I hold: being Type A and calm/relaxed; a cosmopolitan girl and an earth woman; a savvy entrepreneur and an artistic soul; a natural foods cook and a connoisseur of french fries; big hearted and cerebral; a leader and a tribesperson; a global speaker and a householder.

I AM ...all of these things.

My son celebrated his first double digit birthday on Tuesday. My recent reflections make me want to try harder and dig deeper to extricate, reflect, honor and celebrate ALL parts of him--those I love and those I don't understand or fancy. Because I believe the more fully we can be us--warts and all--the easier it is to be accepting of others.

I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:

• Find Your Tribe: Join or become trained to lead Personal Renewal Groups for women
• Attend a retreat/event including my April 13th Empowered Entrepreneur Retreat and my April Esalen and June Kripalu retreats and check out all upcoming events
• Learn about Live Inside Out and receive weekly inspiration on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up my life balance title The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization
• I Choose Love PSA: a reminder that when we come from love--one of the most powerful yet underutilized forces on the planet--we have the ability to transcend fear and remember what we're really hear to do: give and receive love. Learn more.

Subscribe to The Journey, a weekly blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out.

WonderWomen documentary. Learn how to catch a screening of this wonderful flick in your area at www.WonderWomenDoc.com.

Slow Down You Move Too Fast!

                    

This weekend I found myself frequently humming, "Slow down, you move too fast ..."

Lately, it feels like life is moving too fast. A month feels like a week--a week, like a day.

Saturday night we really felt the effects of this. 

My husband and I were supposed to attend a big fund raiser for my son's school. As we got closer to the hour of the event, we realized we were tired. Really tired. Lay down and sleep for five days tired (and this is in spite of the fact that we've all been going to bed on time!).

So instead of donning our party clothes, we put on scarves and jackets and drove to a nearby nature preserve to watch Jupiter, Venus and the Moon--through a powerful telescope--dance in the dark night sky. Our entire family was in bed asleep by 9:00.

A parent I talked to the other night--who is also a teacher--agreed, "Things seem to be moving really fast; everything seems unusually intense right now."

I saw a friend last night at an Indian restaurant who echoed our experience, "What's going on? It feels like we're all living at warp speed these days! Where's the off switch?"

This past weekend I went to a Kundalini yoga workshop on living in uncertain times and our teacher affirmed, yes, things are moving faster (on every level) and they're only going to continue to speed up.

When it feels like things are moving too fast, I rebel. I dig in my heels. I stop in my tracks. I stand still. And come home to myself--through my breath and often, through nature.

My brother lives in cabin in the woods in North Carolina; he sent me this haunting poem yesterday. I can't get it out of my mind. It beckons me to find ways and moments in my week to step off the merry-go-round and just s-t-a-n-d  still.

Maybe it will do the same for you.

Lost
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you,
If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

~ David Wagoner ~

I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:

• Find Your Tribe: Join or become trained to lead Personal Renewal Groups for women
• Attend a retreat/event including my April 13th Empowered Entrepreneur Retreat and my April Esalen and June Kripalu retreats
• Learn about Live Inside Out and receive weekly inspiration on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up my life balance title The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization 
• I Choose Love PSA: a reminder that when we come from love--one of the most powerful yet underutilized forces on the planet--we have the ability to transcend fear and remember what we're really hear to do: give and receive love. Learn more.

Subscribe to The Journey, a weekly blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out. 

Video:"Feelin' Groovy"-Simon and Garfunkel; The 59th Street Bridge Song. Written in 1966, the year I was born. Growing up in the sixties and seventies Simon and Garfunkel were constant voices in my home.

Curiosity

Last month my husband and I had a session with a parenting coach. My almost ten-year old has hit adolescence and it's taken us by surprise (we thought we had a few more years before he started asking for the car keys!).

She shared that the number one thing we can do to support our son through this transition and make our lives easier, is to cultivate a continual state of curiosity (particularly around his changing behavior).

I've been playing with this concept all month and after getting triggered this weekend around an old childhood wound, I'm thinking of adopting curiosity as my word of the year!

Curiosity. What if...? Why ...? Why not...? What's possible ...? What's working...? What's not ...? What's next....? I wonder what would happen if ....?

For the last thirteen years, I've been writing, speaking, coaching, training and teaching around themes related to life balance. I'm fascinated with how we enhance our emotional/spiritual well-being on a daily basis, what throws us into disequilibrium and what are the "paths to peace" that bring us back to center most quickly?

I heard a friend say the other day that her favorite phrase whenever her life gets bumpy, is "I wonder what will happen next?" And she says this with absolute joy, delight and true wonder!

I wonder what will happen next ...? I like that. I also appreciate that the state of curiosity invites expansiveness (much like we explore in the I CHOOSE LOVE movement--see below), openness and even a dash of "Anything is possible!"

It will be fun to observe how curious I can be this week around what's currently going on in my life and what is yet to emerge this week and this month. I'll keep you posted how things unfold.

Join us and CHOOSE LOVE in 2012: The I Choose Love public service campaign is a reminder that when we come from love--one of the most powerful yet underutilized forces on the planet--we have the ability to transcend fear and remember what we're really hear to do: give and receive love. Learn more and order a tshirt (at cost).

I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:

• Find Your Tribe: Join or become trained to lead Personal Renewal Groups for women
• Attend a retreat/event including my April 13th Empowered Entrepreneur Retreat and my April Esalen and June Kripalu retreats
• Learn about Live Inside Out and receive weekly inspiration on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up my life balance title The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization

Subscribe to The Journey, a weekly blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out. 

Photo: Chaco Canyon, New Mexico at sunset on the evening of a full moon. For days we asked "Why and what if?" after visiting these lost Anasazi ruins which were suddenly vacated in 700 A.D. Highly recommend making the long haul out to this incredible ancient site (even better if you can visit on a full moon).

What Really Matters?

Yesterday morning I found myself standing at my open front door staring out at a beautiful oak tree. Bathed in sunlight, I held a cup of lemon ginger tea in one hand and my to-do list in the other.

I was waiting for a friend that I was helping out of a financial jam, and wondering how crucial this hot list of tasks I was holding--that had seemed so important earlier in the day--really were. (This week is a big one for me as I’m attempting to wrap up all my projects so I can begin finalizing my manuscript which is due in January.)

The moment felt big and pregnant (ever have those?) and I had the strong sensation that I was being asked to stop everything … and become present to what life was trying to tell me.

Over the last few days, I’ve been surrounded by close friends and dear acquaintances who are struggling with big stuff. Life or death stuff. Fork in the road stuff. Questions that don’t have easy or quick answers stuff.

One of my son’s teachers lost her 19 year-old son in a fatal car accident right before Thanksgiving (this touched me deeply as my brother was the same age when he died). A close colleague is struggling financially to pay even her basic bills. Another friend has been battling depression and is in limbo around her life purpose and direction. One of my childhood friends is navigating the holidays with her kids after the loss of her husband 5 months ago. Another dear friend, a mother to two young kids, is working herself to the bone and having a hard time seeing a way out of a never ending cycle of overwork.

As I'm standing here in the doorway, I'm racked with the questions, "What can I do? How can I best help?" And as I write personal notes to them, leave messages and emails, offer prayers and resources--I'm reminded that this work, however small and insignificant it may feel--is more important than any task, deadline or to-do. Being here for each other is the most important thing there is.

So my prayer as I move through the week is “Guide me how to best serve and help my brothers and sisters who are in my life right now." Because we don't have to go to Africa or a low-income area or a disadvantaged school to find people in need.

Help is needed right here, right now and often those whose paths we cross daily are hurting and in dire need of a kind word or deed. But unless we drop the "Gotta get it done" mentality long enough to be fully present and *really* see those around us, we'll miss the call for help altogether. Like I almost did this past week.

Have you heard about the I CHOOSE LOVE public service campaign? It's a reminder that when we come from love--one of the most powerful yet underutilized forces on the planet--we have the ability to transcend fear and remember what we're really hear to do: give and receive love. Learn more and order a tshirt (at cost).

I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:

• Find Your Tribe: Join or become trained to lead Self- Renewal Groups
• Attend a retreat/event including my Fri., Dec.16 Reflect & Re-Imagine Small Business Owners Retreat
• Learn about Live Inside Out and receive weekly inspiration on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up my life balance title The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization

Subscribe to The Journey,  a weekly blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out.  

Photo: Texas oak tree bathed in sunlight, Dreamstime.

Do It Different

Over the past two weekends I saw some amazing art at E.A.S.T. (I feel so lucky to live in Austin--a progressive oasis in the center of Texas; our tourism plug for years was "Austin, what the rest of the country had in mind!") 

Having the opportunity to visit these artists' avant-garde work and home spaces and be reminded that there is no "right way" to live or work was powerful. And, drinking in this visual feast of multimedia, oil paintings, woodwork and sculpture, pottery and glassblowing inspired me to re-visit one of my favorite slogans: "Do it different." 

Do it different: meaning shaking life up, looking at it sideways, turning things upside down, changing how you do and see things, challenging how you've set up your life and trying on a new perspectives or way of being. 

Whether it's small (driving a new route to or from work or school) or big (starting to walk or meditate each morning before work or eating different foods)--"doing it different" makes me feel more vibrant, grateful to be alive and appreciative that I get to create the day (and life) I desire. 

There's a lot of research around how much our brains benefit when we "do it different." We actual create new neural pathways when we mix it up (ever wonder why your 65-year old friend who is always signing up for new cooking classes and loves to learn the latest dance moves is sharp as a tack?!). 

Much of our daily routine is rote. We've fallen into habitual, unconscious ways of doing, being and seeing (from what we eat for breakfast and how we start our day to how we approach work or parenting and relate to our partners and family members). 

During our New Way of Being course, 70 women and men from around the world explored what a "New Way of Being" would look and feel like. For five weeks we asked ourselves, "If we dropped our old ways of thinking and seeing and released habitual ways of being, what would it be like to step into a higher, more evolved version of who we are?" 

It was quite a powerful experience--even just asking the question proved to be a catalyst for many. (Note: It's not too late to participate; you can download the classes and listen anytime from anywhere.) 

As I prepare to return to my manuscript and begin work on my new book next month, I'm curious how the New Way of Being journey will affect this new project. I'll keep you posted on what unfolds.

P.S. Every year, I really enjoy "doing it different" around how we celebrate the holidays. Interested in joining me? Read more.

Have you heard about the I CHOOSE LOVE public service campaign? It's a reminder that when we come from love--one of the most powerful yet underutilized forces on the planet--we have the ability to transcend fear and remember what we're really hear to do: give and receive love. Learn more and order a tshirt (at cost).

I love to hear from, connect with and meet The Journey readers at our events. I invite you to:

• Find Your Tribe: Join or become trained to lead Self- Renewal Groups
• Attend a retreat/event including my Fri., Dec.16 Reflect & Re-Imagine Small Business Owners Retreat
• Join the dialogue and receive weekly inspiration on our Live Inside Out Facebook Community
• Pick up my life balance title The Mother's Guide to Self-Renewal from the library or buy it here
• Read past issues of my Life Balance newsletter
• Take Action: Contact one of our career or life balance coaches for 1-on-1 support; receive an initial complimentary consultation
• Empower Others: Schedule Renee for a private workshop or retreat for your company or organization

Subscribe to The Journey,  a weekly blog about coach/author/entrepreneur Renee Trudeau’s personal journey to creating balance from the inside out.  

Painting/photo: Darvin Jones. One of the many amazing artists exhibiting at E.A.S.T.