MoxieLife

I'm not depressed - just overloaded

I have been quiet here - quiet at home too. I wonder sometimes with the information overload that we have the ability to experience now if we are putting too much stuff in. I feel like I have so much information to process that I can't get anything out - nothing that resembles anything of substance.

I will be happy when this election is over. I feel like I know what I know and I won't be changing my mind - so more information isn't going to help me (or anyone else really). I have worked hard on this election in my own little way - I have fund raised, canvassed in Missouri, bought local advertising, organized people to get involved - I am tired.

My personal life is ok - we are getting into the shift of being empty nesters. It is quieter. We talk a little, watch Netflix, and read the paper.

There is something not quite right though because I am going to bed at 9. I just don't want to piddle around the house. The house is really tiny and if I am up doing some little thing we are right on top of one another and I just want to be alone to process all the things in my head. I'm not depressed - just overloaded. Do you ever feel like that?

Arkansas Youth want to kill Obama - scary

This just released from NPR - awful story about two "skinheads" plotting to kill Obama. People think I am nuts when I tell them that I have met people in Arkansas who think he will be shot - now I am not so nuts.

I want an Athiest Bus Campaign - or at least my own billboard

On Sunday our Obama sign was bent in half - probably by a speeding car and a baseball bat - why would you do that? Anyway - instead I want a whole campaign to cover the town, state, country just like this in London!

Quiet Here - Busy There

I have been busy - hence the quite here on my blog. For those who would be interested I am now writing a guest column on Life Dev. The focus is interviewing creatives about their process and highlighting projects that people can participate in. The first interview is up and I am so excited about the project. Check it out. Do you have a person who would be a good interview or a project that people can get involved in? I would love to talk with you via email & Skype about it. Send me an email at goodwolve at gmail.com

Can We Say Unmotivated Posting

I just haven't had the motivation to post. I haven't been doing anything from keeping me from writing. I am just as busy as usual. I just don't feel compelled to share. What keeps you motivated? Do you post even when you aren't feelin' it?

Weekend Plans: A Quick Update

We are busy this weekend - which is unusual for us and I have been pondering a lot of personal questions lately. I'll just briefly go over those here. Oh, and good things are happening. I love good things.

• I am helping a friend who is getting married today. It is an odd situation, but I was able to recommend our local UU church as the site and am opening the church for her friends to decorate. I am happy to help out even when I am unsure about the basis of the marriage. Oh, since I am not married I have LOTS of thoughts about when and how to get married. Those that don't, well, we judge.
• I had the great fun of taking Plan B yesterday. For those of you unfamiliar with this host of hormones it is a guarantee that you won't unexpectedly be surprised by a bundle of joy. We were probably safe, but we weren't taking any chances. For those of you who don't know this is the morning after pill that the religious right doesn't want available. Thank god it still is and please let's work to keep it that way.
• I am NOT finishing the painting I was going to do in my office/guest/college daughters room prior to her visit next week. She is coming on Thursday and there is no way I can get that done in time. So, I will trudge the futon back into place and live with a partially painted room for another week.
• I am working to purchase Obama ads on our local radio station - I think I have raised enough to have two ads per day until the election. I am so proud of our local efforts.
• I am going to be writing a weekly column for a new blog: http://lifedev.net. I will focus on interviewing creative people and how they do what they do and projects that people can get involved in to boost thier creativitity. My first post will be the 22 of October - come check it out.
• I am going to be interviewed on PR101 - a Los Angeles based radio show in January. I am doing a segment on Small Business Marketing Tips. I am kind of excited. I think I am on the cusp, professionally, of something really great.
• I am going to dry a zillion cherry tomatoes from the garden this weeken. MMMM.
• I am going to cajole my husband into playing Scrabble again - we don't keep score we just play until the final tile is put down.
• Thoughts - I have been thinking about how death changes your life. More to come on that. Also about spiritual practice. More on that later too.

More later - until then have a joyus weekend and take 10 minutes to really focus on what you are doing. Paying attention is liberating.

Something Bigger Going On - Part 3

I have been working through my ideas about life, turmoil, and depression and have come upon two things that I believe to be true. The first is that we need to do more for others - by giving of ourselves to a larger cause we gain the ability to see ourselves in something much bigger. Hence, Something Bigger Going On.

The second truth I know is that if we choose to dive into a goal deeply we will lose the depression/angst that is hanging around us. Really successful people have developed goals and gone towards without wavering. Think about Oprah, Warren Buffet, Bono - most of these people who we perceive to be successful have devoted their lives to doing what they wanted to do and do well; communication, money, and music. After they have achieved great success they are able to move into other areas.

If you have a goal - say, running a 5K, do it. Do it without looking back. Cancel your dinner plans with a couple you never really liked anyway, get up early and run before work, move your life into what you believe it take to be a successful runner. If you do this you will see that your focus on running will keep you from dwindling down into the depths of depression. There just isn't time to do everything and if you have a goal those annoying complaints about life will fade away.

Yes, I am suggesting that you become selfish, goal oriented and unable to be all things. Multitasking never got us anywhere. It is with a connection to what we want we will see happiness and success.

If you are a parent, dive into parenting. Be the best parent you can be. Don't divvy your life into segments to please others. Meetings, play dates, must haves, are all contrived by our mind to distract us from what is really happening. Play deeply with your child. Love them completely. Lose yourself in them and you will gain yourself on the other side.

This is actually a scary thing for most people. It is easier to be over engaged, to be wanted and over extended. That makes us seem fuller to others, and ourselves but in reality we are hiding our true passions. We invent problems to seem fully engaged, but really we are spreading ourselves so thin that we can't build real success in any of those things.

I am advocating deep relationships with our goals to bring about real success. I believe that this radical action will shed the false issues that surround us. We won't have time to engage with people who drain us; we won't have to solve issues that don't move our goals forward. Selfish - maybe, but if we all worked towards our real success we would see a planet filled with happy, productive people.

Something Bigger Going On - Part 2

I have, like many of you, people in my life who seem to be struggling with depression. They are out of sorts, the world isn't working in their favor, they are digging a deep hole. Although I do believe that true depression is a disease. It is something that holds on and takes you under - like a riptide. I also believe that most of the problems that surround people are not real problems; they aren't dealing with a child with cancer, the death of a parent, losing a job, or have nothing to eat. Most of the problems of the people in my life are self inflicted. I call them 21st Century problems. Problems that people who have too much stuff, too much time, and too much apathy have. They are real enough for the person in the middle of it, but they aren't life threatening in any way (granted, they can get that way unchecked).

There is a way out. First, I do believe in drugs. Go get yourself to a therapist and get the drugs you need to get you out of the hole. That is fine. Think of it as the gas you need to get out. It isn't the end of the story it is just the jump start.

Next, there are two ways to really get out of where you are. The first, help other people. Not people that you know. Help people you don't know.

Get engaged with a cause that is bigger then you. Work to end AIDS, help pregnant teens, feed the homeless, solve the issues in Africa. Whatever it is that is bigger then you, but needs your attention make time to dive into a cause and get your feet wet. You will be cleansed by the act of giving.

I know you are thinking that you don't have time to do this, but you do. All that time that you spend whining about your life to your girlfriends, gossiping about your ex-husband, or finding fault with your neighbor can be spent in service.

Do one thing.

Host a party and give the money to the charity, design a t-shirt, stand at a booth at the park, create a pamphlet, send an email to your congressman, get involved in something other then yourself and you will begin to change in ways you never imagined.

There is a big world out there and it needs you. It needs everyone of us to make it better. Someone else doesn't have the gift that you have and you are the right puzzle piece at the right time to make a difference.

I swear to you that this will change your life.

If you could do one thing what would it be? Your life is a mess, but you can do one thing to make a difference - start today.

Tomorrow the other path to saving your life.

Something Bigger Going On

This is the first of a several part series of thoughts that I have been having about our plight in life. I have several friends and family members who are really struggling with life and as I look at what is happening to and around them I have begun to form some opinions. Opinions that before sharing them with them I am going to bounce off all of you.

First I want to share a film that was sent to me by my friend Kathy. This is a fantastic preface to the idea that Something Bigger is Going On. Enjoy.

Historia De Un Letrero - More amazing video clips are a click away

Mavericks on SNL

Tina Fey rocks this - if only we could have her instead because at least she sees the humor.