Transitions

Here I am in the now. I've been away from my blog way too long. Actually, I've been hurtling through a major transition in my life since November. A new job presented itself 5 1/2 hours away from Half Moon Bay and I jumped on it.

My family and I lived on the Coastside in Half Moon Bay for the past 15 years. We raised our children there, put down roots, made friends. But the tides were pulling me back to Southern California. Family and sunshine, simply put, are what pulled me back. Our children are grown. One is in college, one has a family and career on the East Coast. Still under 50, I decided this was the time to make a change if I was going to do it. So I made the plunge, found a new job and moved to Santa Barbara.

My husband stayed behind to finish the lease on our house and tried to find a transfer within his company. He just recently arrived full-time in Santa Barbara with no transfer but a bunch of new ideas to  possibly start his own company, while looking for work. That is still playing out.

In the meantime we have downsized from a six-bedroom house to a one bedroom apartment and a 10x10 storage unit. We will be moving again in a couple of weeks to a slightly bigger two bedroom apartment. I can tell you we are sick of moving at this point and our cat is not happy with us.

Since this is my yoga blog I guess I need to tie this into my yoga practice. Let's just say my yoga practice has lapsed a bit the last 8 months. We were short money because we were paying rent on two places and we were doing a lot of commuting back and forth from Santa Barbara to the Bay area so classes were not on the table for me. Not to mention it's intimidating to me to walk into a new studio and start taking classes with teachers and students I don't know.

I did do my own home practice. It wasn't daily and not ever as long as a full class. It's hard to discipline yourself to do yoga in your living room for an hour and a half. What I did do well was keep yoga in my daily life. If I was feeling stiff at work, I'd stretch. Just doing yoga over the last couple of years has changed the way I walk and stand. I'm always checking my posture and stance. If I was stressed I'd do a mantra or do some restorative poses. Yoga is now part of me.

Over the last couple of months I started taking some yoga classes here in Santa Barbara. I've been trying out different studios and teachers. I'm coming to find out what I like and don't like. I also discovered without a teacher to guide me, I don't push myself as hard. I've lost a lot of my stamina and strength I had gained. When I left Half Moon Bay I had just started to kick myself up into a headstand. Some of that shoulder and arm strength is gone, but I'm sure it will be back soon.

More to come on my new yoga experiences here in Santa Barbara...

The actual content count of my bags...

Contents of my purse.

Contents of purse:
Phone, mints, keys, sharpie, 2 nail files, lip gloss, lipstick, sunblock, chapstick, another lip balm, neti stick, ibuprofen, another lip balm, bee sting kit, 2 prescriptions, sudefed, tampon, feminine pads (2), antacid, gum, purse hanger, mirror, measuring tape, 3 hair ties, week of receipts, wallet, extra credit cards, business card holder, Art of Sea Glass business cards, new credit card and paperwork to call it in, kleenex, eye glass case, change 1.87, 2 band aids, journal.

The total count on items in my purse was about 43 things. I didn't count each credit card or the complete contents of my wallet. Ok, really this isn't too bad. This all actually stuff I use. I just recently bought a new purse and had reorganized it. Ok so I got rid of the receipts and a couple of the chapstick things when I put it all back. But this challenge of getting things down to 100 personal items will have to include my purse as 1 item. Just saying...

Contents of my daily tote bag-yes it was scary!

Contents of my tote bag (I carry this to work with me and usually have it in my car at all times):
2 journals, book-A Year of Living Your Yoga, plastic Macy's bag with receipt in it, shoes, socks, umbrella, July and Aug receipts (91 receipts and 4 coupons-my husband made me count them), 2 expired 2 for 1 flight coupons, photo cd, 16 tampons, 12 feminine pads (what was I expecting? This was like a whole box of feminine protection LOL), gum, 2009 calendar (hmmmm-apparently I hadn't looked through the contents for awhile), 2010 calendar, 2 Bart cards, Weight Watchers folder, broken keychain with expired gym card, box of vitamins, new reading glasses that don't work, old reading glasses that don't work very well, kleenex, empty hard eyeglass holder, empty soft eye glass case, IPod, earphones, make-up pouch with toothbrush, mirror, floss, blush, 2 hair ties and emery board, extra medicine bag with allergy pills, 2 Benadryl creams (always expecting an allergic reaction to something!), nail file, antibiotic cream, Dramamine, Airborne, anti-gas pill, floss, 2 Band-Aids, pouch with business cards, giant stack of papers that included: yoga stuff, ideas, sketches, recipes, medical stuff to follow up on, 401k stuff to followup on, eye glass paperwork to get the correct reading glasses, current bills, Sea Glass festival coupons, Lab order for 2011, 2 paperclips, medical receipt, and the best thing I found was this ad (pictured below) about saying goodbye to the paper! LOL

The total count on the contents of my tote bag was at a whopping 233 things. My husband made me count all the pieces of paper and receipts I found. Ok so that was too many things. I obviously hadn't been through my bag in awhile. I did clean it out and got rid of stuff and filed what needed filing. But I didn't recount. Tote bag will have to count as 1 on my list of a 100 things. I am not getting rid of it. It's like my briefcase and survival bag. I need to add water!

This was a very interesting exercise. I plan on continuing on through my house and seeing what else I can eliminate. Not sure I will ever get down to 100 personal things but I know I can get down to 100 categories at least! It's quite an eye-opening exercise. Start with your purse or a junk drawer. Make sure you throw some stuff out!

100 Things

My boss and I went to coffee the other day and she told me about this movement she read about in the New York Times called the 100 things challenge, a grass roots kind of effort. Get your personal belongings down to 100 things. Now I would call my boss a minamalist already and even for her getting her personal belongings down to 100 things would probably be hard but if any one could do it she could. I'm continually stopping her from throwing things out at the office because yes we do need to keep those files for more than a month. My first thought to this movement is: Right! I probably have a hundred things in my purse and tote bag I carry around with me all the time, not to mention what I carry around in my car. We do live in earthquake country you know. You never know when you're going to have to be in survival mode. My purse might just save my life.

The contents of my purse and tote bag I carry with me daily. Yikes!

After pondering the concept for a couple of days it's actually very intriquing and maybe even alluring. Think about how you feel when you stay at a nice hotel. You have your essentials with you; clothes, makeup, phone, maybe a book or magazine. But you love the feeling of that clean crisp hotel room, you just want to stay there forever and go out to eat every night and explore the area you're in. You might not even have a car with you so you have to think of different ways of getting around. You don't have the burden of all this stuff to keep clean and buy and be responsible for.

This concept prompted me to make a list of 100 personal items that were essential to me. What happened when I started making the list was I started making new rules and categories of stuff on my list. My art stuff was a whole category, camera stuff, kitchen stuff was a category, medicine and first aid was a category, personal grooming, furtniture, photo albums, doll collection, my sea glass collection, my art on the wall, all my Giant's clothing counts as one thing, my books, my yoga props...sigh not an easy task.

We are very emotionally attached to our stuff. But what do we really need? As you get older you find you don't need as much. You realize you aren't going to live forever in this physical existence and you just don't need some of this stuff. You start downsizing. I keep finding things I'm just not that attached to anymore. As for those boxes of stuff in the garage that I may someday use in a new place; when I pull them down and look through them, it's either rotted or out of style or I think, "What the heck was I saving this for?"

This 100 thing challenge is an interesting exercise to look at things differently. A way to get that vacation kind of feeling all of the time. Maybe it's a way of pinpointing what your life purpose really is. What is most important in this second half of my life? How do I want to live it? What "things" do I really need to be happy? Do I need things to be happy? How much more money would I have if I lived in a much smaller place?

If we didn't have to house all our stuff, we might be able to spend our time and money on traveling or going to yoga retreats or eating out at nice places. This coming from a photographer, artist, memorablila keeper, antiques hunter and collector of many things. I hate getting rid of stuff. I still have my Barbie's and baby dolls hidden somewhere under the stairs. I still have that full set of 80's mauve and sea foam china we got as a wedding present...hmmmm I think my kids may need some new dishes and my granddaughter may need some new toys. I know I have to clean my purse out. It's a start.

What 100 personal things could you get your stuff down to? Up to the challenge?

Painting as meditation

There's something about painting colors on canvas and seeing what you can come up with that sooths my soul. Painting a fishy mural the other day with my daughter in law for the baby was at times soothing and silent and at times hilarious and joyful. We painted the grandbaby's feet purple and let her walk across the bottom of the canvas. I gave her a paintbrush and let her paint me, the canvas and herself. I stamped her little footprints on my painting pants. The sun never came out that day, but I enjoyed the muffled silence the misty fog coming down on my head surrounded me with. The giggle of my grandbaby as we tickled her tiny feet with the paintbrush. The satisfaction of creating.

Try painting your feet and walking across a canvas or piece of paper, the paint squishing between your toes. You will feel a childlike wonder.

Napping with my grandbaby

Fussy, fussy girl. No one could get her to take a nap. So I swooped her up and brought her into my room. We found a wonderful show on Nick Jr., Oobi. Puppets that are hands with eyes on them. So cute. She just cuddled in as I talked about the show and what she was seeing, no expectations. She kept looking at her hands and trying to figure out how she could make her hands talk. It was adorable. I rubbed her forhead and then she drifted off to sleep and we napped for about an hour. How delightful. Patience, calmness and a soothing voice. Sometimes you just need to kick back, take some time out to breathe and enjoy the wonder of something to relax, like trying to make your hands talk.

We can learn so much by just observing how babies live their lives...

Yoga on the Beach

My yoga teacher celebrated her birthday by having our yoga class on the beach. What a great experience. There's something about doing yoga in the sand with the sound of the ocean crashing down that is quite energizing. I did a headstand-Salamba Sirsasana and we all did half a handstand- Ardha Adho Mukha Vrksasana with a partner's help. I went beyond my comfort zone and it was exhilarating. I love going upside down!

We used the sand as our props. If we needed a bolster, we molded it out of sand. We did savasana in reclining bound angle post-Supta Baddha Konasana using the sand to lean against as we faced the ocean and felt the mist on our faces. Best savasana ever.

We also had a wonderful pot-luck brunch. Everyone brought something. It was all gluten free. Lot's of fruits and vegetables. I even had kelp chips and I loved them.

We meditated, chanted, sang and danced! I look forward to next year. Maybe we convince our teacher to this more than once a year...:)

Busy, busy, busy...

So much for posting daily. Like yoga, this too is a practice. I need to work it in to my day. I really enjoy writing but I put it on the back-burner this summer. It's been a busy one. A quick summary:

My son and his family moved in while they transition from military life back to civilian life. With a baby in the house, our lives have changed once again. We are no longer empty-nesters with extra bedrooms available for art rooms and such. It's ok my grandbaby makes up for all that! But it has changed our daily routine.

My birthday in June/Thousand Oaks/Castle Green-lots of family fun!

Our friends, Dave and Myrnie moved to Hong Kong :(

I tried a diet of Herbalife. While I was going to blog about my experience with this and my ultimate success, I ran into some snags. I may still do a post about it. I have some in my drafts that are actually quite humorous. Needless to say, I am not doing Herbalife anymore and I am back on my Weight Watchers diet. I have that final 10 pounds to lose and really thought that Herbalife would be my miracle diet. There is no such thing for WOMEN! My husband on the other hand lost almost 50 pounds in two months on the diet. I lost 3 pounds. What's up with that? Men. Geesh.

Fletcher ball workshop in July-great class. More on this later.

Went to my dad's 70th birthday. It was a great reunion of family and friends we hadn't seen in many years. I was able to sneak in a couple of yoga practices while I was there. I love that I can do yoga anywhere.

I have continued with my yoga practice, Pilate's classes and walking throughout the summer and have maintained my weight and sculpted my body into pretty good shape. My new size 8 clothing are getting too big!!!! Exercise has become a habit for me. Finally after 40 something years. Took me long enough.