Life's Lessons #7 BE Yourself

I always thought that BEing myself was a bit of a raw deal. I mean, it was so easy to BE like someone else. Even several someone elses!! But the deal was BE Myself and so I kept at it. And at it. And at it.

Now I am happier about this whole proposition. I am able to embrace it, even its prickly parts. I realise there is no one else I CAN BE.

The problem with BE Yourself, from my perspective, was that DOing so seemed like the perfect set-up. I always fell short of what I imagined I should BE BEing. Or who.

Recently I found a thing that I have stuck on my mirror in the bathroom. It says: In a world where you can be anything, be yourself. I see this often and every single time I stop and think about it.

I have had, and I still DO have, a lot of ideas for the improvement of ME. I've had these ideas about others, too, but NOT so much as I DO for ME. Perhaps this is NOT such an awful thing. Perhaps this is simply BEing myself, or, BEing Currie.

I call this blog BE Currie BEcause it is someplace I can come and show up as just myself. Messy, imperfect, curious, thoughty, and as I am. Essentially, BEing Currie. In the moment. Or moments.

Life's Lessons #6 BE Quiet

Somedays that is Enough.

Even MORE than Enough.

Life's Lessons #5 BE Thoughtful

Even though I think I am pretty much a thoughty sort, I am often so NOT thoughtful it can knock me over with a blink.

I am especially aware of this tendency when I am trying to get help with something from a customer service person. I am already halfway to BEing all sighs and eye-rolls when really, I haven't allowed room for the other person to simply Show Up.

Today I was back and forth and forth and back and upside down and inside out with having my telephone number ported from one place to another and then back again when I realised I was putting myself in a worse predicament.

I was so confused at one point that I could NOT remember which company I was talking to and my notes were blurring all together into one blob of ink on paper.

The thing that woke me up was the kindness. The listening. The understanding. 

It wasn't just one person. Or one place. It was like a little chorus of kindness singing just for me. Who knew?!

I'd had a meltdown a few weeks back over all this and I thought I was headed there again. Instead, I took a breath. I looked at things with some real thought and decided that I want to BE so thoughtful as the woman I was speaking with.

It wasn't HUGE, probably she is just as kind and thoughty with everyone, but somehow the giant voice prompt machine got us together and suddenly I saw how I am really NOT all alone out here in the World...

BE Thoughtful. That's something I want to BE.

Life's Lessons #4 BE Cheerful

Much as I have been very Eeyore-ish throughout my Life, I find that Life is just simpler when I choose to BE Cheerful. NOT that I am saying I stuff my iggy and yuck feelings and just put on a happy face, just that I am finally realising that BEing Cheerful is a whole other kettle of water bugs.

I am learning a LOT about CHOOSING who and how to BE since moving. I love my quiet and solitude, but it's entirely missing somedays. Oh well. I can still BE Cheerful. And kind. And approachable.

BEing Cheerful is a lot less effort than I'd considered. It doesn't require near the amount of energy BEing a crankypants does.

BEing Cheerful is even fun. And laughing [or simply smiling] seems to add to rather than take from the World. 

BEing Cheerful helps others to raise their game, too. It seems really hard for others to BE all grumpy and cross when I am Cheerful.

What amazes me about BEing Cheerful is that Life is far better than my old Eeyore-ish self has been telling me all these years. 

It's NOT so big a deal as somethings, but I am going to roll with it from here on out. I am going to reach for Cheerful BEfore I rely on Eeyore-ishness. 

That's it. That's all. See you here tomorrow...

Life's Lessons #3 BE Open

Somedays I am pretty predictable. I get up and write BEfore the sun even thinks about rising. I make a little art to share with whoever feels like reading what I send or post. Gracie and I have a Morning Adventure. There is always tea.

And laughter.

Today was pretty normal except that I took Gracie for her Spa Day to a brand new to us both place. She'd been a bit limpy lately, perhaps the cold has got to her eight-and-a-half + year-old body. MayBE she just was a little exuberant with her tennis ballies last week in the park.

Anyway, we found the place [and I am REALLY so over BEing a driver again...] and met the nice lady who was going to DO her thing. We reminisced a bit about good old Barkingham Palace and Papa Tony back in Delray Beach, but finally, with trepidation, I left her and went on my way to my FREE TIME. 

I was less lost in the weeds than sometimes, and I found some ways to pass the time that weren't at all about cleaning [aka rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic]. That little chore I was happy to leave BEhind in the Wee Cottage. Our new Wee Casa is twice the size with about a quarter of the stuff. 

I spent the morning and early afternoon DOing things that needed DOing and a few that did NOT but that I chose to DO anyway. It was fine. It was nice, really. But I was sure glad to come home to the message from the Dog Wash lady that my girl was coiffed and ready for pick-up.

I found myself thinking a lot about the past 2 months. We have only been here two months and I am starting to forget the Past and blend right on into the Present. [except for that car driving business... that ends tomorrow]

Moving was less a big deal this time. MayBE BEcause I have done it so many times I finally was ready to let it BE done without bother. I was open to the possibility that it could BE a simple thing. And, in most respects, I literally went to sleep in Delray Beach, FL, one night and woke up in Mesa, AZ, the next morning. Oh, there was a plane or two involved, but really, that was my intention from the day I decided to come back to AZ.

My mum thought I was asking too much. I knew though. I knew that BEing open to what I want is the surest way I know of getting it. And it is amazing how much BETTER THAN I'D IMAGINED IT BEing it was. [and is]

So... BE Open. That's my lesson from Today. And one I have had cause to enJOY greatly in 2013. 

Sometimes I need to get out of my own way.

Mostly, though, I just need to remember to laugh.

Life's Lessons #2 BE Silly

Silliness is an essential Life Skill. It is right up there with learning to say YES and NO. It makes Life bearable and sweet, especially when the poopstorms are blowing in and through everything.

I never realised how much I had eased silliness off my plate. Gradually. Over long stretches of Time. Until one day I did NOT miss it BEcause I had gone so long without it.

Today I am BEing Silly. BEcause I CAN BE. 

I am taking on the giggly attitude of my 5-year old self and the ohmygodicanNOTstoplaughingandNowthereismilkspurtingoutofmynose self. 

I am going to laugh, out loud or quietly and just to myself, no matter what anyone says or does. I am going to replace every cranky and judgmental thought with a smile. A realisation that I am NOT so different from anyone else.

I am tired of BEing sensible and acting like I am a grown-up with a pinched scowl and lots and lots of noise running through my birdbrain.

I am going to hop and twirl and dance with my smile all day long.

I hope you will BE Silly, too. However that looks to YOU.

Life's Lessons #1 BE Intentional

I've been thinking I'll close 2013 with some reflection and affection. It has been quite a year for me, and I'd NEVER EVER have BElieved you if you told me I'd BE Here Now. [Except, really, it is impossible that I could BE anywhere else.]

BEing intentional has been a theme for me in 2013. MayBE there are more complicated reasons for this, but I think it's BEcause I say YES and NO and don't feel compelled to explain further.

In the BEginning of the year I started to seek out intentional communities where I could live. It was extremely frustrating for months, and then my Life kind of turned upside down when Gracie and I got attacked in late March by two dogs who were NOT BEhind a locked gate.

I realised then that I needed to make some changes. I needed to NOT BE so out there on my own; I needed to find a "community" where I could ADD and BE of Service. And I needed to learn how to live among others again.

BEing intentional has brought me here, even to Today. And a good day it has been, all round. I realise that one thing I've got better at in 2013 is deciding to DO or BE or HAVE whatever AND following through with the action[s] required.

Life is far from perfect, which is fine. I don't want perfect. I just want to live simply and BE of Service wherever I CAN BE. Somedays still I get wound up and decide that MY WAY is THE WAY. I get impatient and edgy and sometimes a bit mouthy. But the thing is, I CAN and I DO change that, with Intention.

So that's a Life Lesson from 2013. BE Intentional and Change, Accept, and roll with the river. Don't look BEyond my own air space. Change myself BEcause it is the only thing I really CAN [or should, for that matter] change.