Status 1-28-15*

PAYING ATTENTION AND SYNCRONICITY – I expected another rainy day where I would get some exercise puddle stomping, but instead I was greeted with blue skies and starkly white perfectly puffy clouds as I trudged my way up the hills of my neighborhood. No boots required. I was listening to Alen’s latest episode on confidence, with Trish Blackwell, when I stopped to take a photo of said puffy clouds for Instagram.

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A post shared by Laurie Weaver – Host COD (@lauriedreamweaver)

As I held my phone, I felt the vibration that heralds an email. Now normally, I DON’T check emails on my walks, I try to be a bit more Zen, but something told me to look. It was a message from Alen for show 100. Wow! That was so cool. I immediately emailed back telling him I was listening to his show on my walk, and he said he felt the psychic connection 😉 (We tease each other that way, as we really have built a big sis, little bro, kind of friendship over this year). It made me smile.

Sometimes, even when you feel alone, if you pay attention, you can experience connection in unexpected ways.

I also had fun singing and interviewing my teacher, Viki, for show 100. She has a great story of persistence and bravery that allowed her to go from working in corporate America to working full time doing what she loves. I’m excited to share it with you.

During singing lesson I had an epiphany. One reason I forget to breathe, or have a hard time feeling where I’m at during singing, is that my BODY is literally my instrument. How you move air, where it goes, the shape of your mouth, what you imagine, it all goes into the sound that you make. And as someone who has had disordered eating issues, I’m used to NOT PAYING ATTENTION to my body. Instead, I consult my diet sheet, or consult my HEAD for what should I eat or if I should exercise etc. I never thought, ‘Hey, Body, are you hungry? Want to move? Are you tired? How’re you doing today?” NO! I ignored my body and treated it as an enemy. Damn, body, WHY ARE YOUR LEGS SO BIG? Your tummy is sticking out! Oh don’t be seen in the photo, hide. etc. WHY are you frickin’ HUNGRY AGAIN?!

Anyway, this year of learning to LISTEN to my body, to treat it with the respect it deserves, to appreciate that my body *is* me – at least in this life, whatever you believe. I move, breathe, love, and experience the world paired with this amazing instrument right now – is WHY I can finally sing! It is why I can finally carry a tune. Because I am paying attention.

Wow!

Today

BEAUTY AND WRITING – Mark and I are off to the swanky salon to get our hair done. This will be a long session for me, as I need the works. It takes longer and longer and costs more and more to look less and less the same 😉

BUT I enjoy going and being pampered. And I’m not yet to the place where I want to see my salt and pepper in the mirror. Though someday, I will. Right now, I like the connection of going to a place I’ve gone for years. I started when I worked in downtown and got trims on my lunch hour – prior to needing any highlights, let alone a full dye job. Then when I retired, I liked coming back downtown now and again. When Mark retired, I got a kick out of HIS getting his hair done in the salon too. And now, it is something we do. We go to the salon and after we look good for a day, we go have lunch.

This evening, back to writing group to let myself write stories outside of myself. To allow new characters to be born into the world with their own cares, joys and explorations. To be a creator is a marvelous thing. And to have friends to create and share with is even better.

Show 100

I know I’ve said this a few times, and I mentioned it in Day 99’s podcast, but will leave it here in case this is the way some BCs will discover it.

Feb 3 will be the one year anniversary of the start of the show, and it will ALSO be day 100. Please call the bravery hotline or send some audio with your good wishes or jokes or stories or songs to help me celebrate this milestone. Both my VO acting coach David and my director Marc have agreed to interviews to help me celebrate. And I have a few more tricks up my sleeve. I REALLY hope you can find a way to be part of this milestone show too! BTW, I need anything you wish to do, by Feb. 1, 2015 at the latest so I can write the show before I record Feb. 3. Earlier makes my life easier too. 🙂

Fionna has sent a new version of the Brave Companions Song that is FANTASTIC, and I’d LOVE YOU to be part of its debut.

All you need is to call or send audio and saying 3 things:

1. Your first name
2. Your State or Country or General direction
3. One reason why you are brave

Example: I’m Mark from California and I’m brave for posting a comment on day 98

How about you?

Please feel free to comment on MY statuses or add YOUR OWN thoughts, feelings, challenges, rants and raves on these pages too. That was one of the original purposes of why I posted on FB. I thought BCs might like to share about THEIR days. So if you have thoughts and feelings you’d like to share with the group, go ahead and put them here with your comments.

*Daily statuses are not part of the blog’s email notification. When you enter your email under where it says SUBSCRIBE TO POSTS VIA EMAIL, you will be notified of regular blog posts and when podcast episodes are released. I didn’t want to clog your inbox with my daily statuses. However, the automatic publicize feature will inform you on my show FB page, my AdventureLaurie twitter account, google+ on its show page, and Tumblr.

Body Balance

BB (Body Balance) number 7.5 Sleep: 7 hours divided in 2 ( good first 4.5, ok last 2.5) I feel rested but not energetic. Tummy/Gut: Gut a bit more full. Means I ate a bit more than needed last night. Hungry within two hours of waking, will have usual small breakfast. Energy: Moderate Mood: Calm.

BB is my personal criteria, and I don’t think too hard about it. I ask myself at the keyboard, what is my BB? A number between 1-10, including halves, pops into my head. I write it in my post Then I figure out why it is higher or lower and gently make note.

If you are interested these are my measures.

1. Sleep. Quality and Amount.
2. Tummy/Gut – If I ate what my body asked for, usually above and below the belly button feel balanced. Ate too much, below the belly button feels more full. Ate too little, the reverse.
3. Am I hungry within 1 hour of waking? I have found that I feel best if I am hungry within 1 hour of waking. This tends to make my eating day even and not heavy on food in the evening. But I don’t eat if not hungry unless I’m about to ride or hike. I’ve learned I need to fuel these morning activities, or I’ll bonk.
4. What is my energy level? Subjective, but telling.
5. A quick look at my mood.

The Bravery Coach

TheBraveryCoach daily tweet is a morning mediation on how I either did, or can incorporate an aspect of bravery into my day. It is cheerful. It is esteem building. Those who want to follow these on Twitter may, by searching for the hashtag #bravery or by seeing my profile:

Daily Bravery Tweets via TheBraveryCoach on Twitter