Moving

Recovering from heartbreak and it feels so good!

Grief is a tough part of life and one that we all experience at some point.  Although if you flip it, not experiencing grief would surely mean you've had nothing to lose. Which is worse right? Anyway, back to grief.  I've been there.

Six and a half months ago I waved goodbye to New York City after calling it home for five years. In retrospect I now realise living there was more than a dream, it was a love affair. Filled with excitement, liberation, intense joy, and that heady feeling that just makes you smile.  Yes I have completely romanticized it and there were disappointments at times too. Not many though!

Putting the garden in gardening leave

According to Wikipedia Garden leave or gardening leave:- describes the practice where an employee leaving a job – having resigned or otherwise had their employment terminated – is instructed to stay away from work during the notice period, while still remaining on the payroll.

Gardening leave is a term that originated in the UK and was adopted in Australia & NZ too. When I resigned back in October, 2016 I didn't think it would happen to me. After all I'm leaving a US focussed role to run a Sydney agency. Yes on a Global scale we compete, but from my view point, my specter of influence doesn't overlap.

Joining the dots

“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” Steve Jobs

I really love this quote from Steve Jobs. He surely wasn't a prophet on all fronts but this speaks to me. Particularly right now, as I try to make sense of how I've arrived at where I am today and also where I'm heading.

Moving tips learned the hard way

I moved to my new neighborhood last weekend. There were/are certainly some mixed emotions involved. Moving meant leaving the building where Nicole and I shared an apartment. And saying goodbye to my treasured doormen whom I had grown to rely on. But, despite the heavy heart, I knew it was time. Time to lean into my dream of living in the West Village. To embrace a new experience. And I'm sure Nicole would be in full support.

Along the way, I learned a few lessons, which I thought worthy of sharing in a post. This is more about the emotion than the physical stuff. And whilst its about moving house, the lessons here are really more about going through change - & could be applied elsewhere too.

Do you invest more energy behind the good or bad in your life?

I chose this picture for today's post because the topic is an area I HOPE to improve in. I'm (fairly) normal so, I'm going to guess you may well be the same. 

Last week was a pretty tough one for me. First there was the utter shock of returning to my regular life after the bliss of a full weeks yoga retreat in beautiful Uruguay. Then there was the utterly exhausting work schedule that followed. Essentially, I was on a plane every day between Sunday and Friday except one. On Friday my plane landed into LGA at 11pm. Then my weekend was spent at yoga teacher training, which ran for 6.5 hours a day both Saturday and Sunday. Not surprisingly, I didn't fit much else in. I love YTT, but boy was I tired.

How yoga and meditation can lead to forgiveness

Two fairly major happenings in my life, all roads leading in the same direction. Firstly I have started yoga teacher training. Secondly, I’ve just spent a week in Uruguay/Jose Ignacio on yoga retreat. 

Suffice to say I have spent a great deal of time creating some space in my mind through detaching. I'm finding the more I invest myself into yoga, the easier it is becoming to gain clarity. In particular, this past week, we spent 5 hours per day in the yoga room.  The first 30-35 minutes each day were spent in meditation. Then we generally did a vinyasa class that would last up to 2.5 hours - including 30 minutes in savasana. After some beach time, we would reconvene for another 2 hours of restorative or yin yoga. Again including 30 minutes of savasana.

How to use momentum to trump fear (and doubt)

Given it's a new year there's a high chance you have made some sort of commitment to yourself recently.  Maybe it's toward a goal that will require big change. Deciding on the goal, is often times the easy part, maybe it's even a natural progression. But starting.....well that's a different story. As the saying goes 'easier said than done'.  You do your research and set yourself up to succeed. It all feels natural, it feels good. Then something changes. As the date draws nearer to the official start (change) date, you panic. Then your panic manifests into doubt, very likely driven by fear.

Soul Food week four & delayed gratification

Firstly a quick update on week three. I was 'pretty good' with my intentions but not perfect. On the cutting back on coffee front I broke once to treat myself (see previous post). The social media rules I set myself I stuck to. I learned that coffee has become more important to me of late and it was much harder to cut back than I expected it to be. As I move into week two of this change I expect it will get easier . Social media wise I feel free of some old behavior that I was stuck in. So that is a real win!