Hummingbirds, Snails, and a Heron

Oh my. The fires should be enough to tell me I’m in a different land, but there are so many other signs. Forget the obvious ones, like cactuses and palm trees. I can honestly say I’ve never seen as many hummingbirds as I have in the past few months. I’m sure they exist in the northeast and southeast, but I don’t remember seeing them. I admire their blurry-winged flights daily here. While walking up to a neighbor’s door the other evening, I gasped because I almost stepped on a snail. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve come across one of those. And then one of my favorite encounters . . . I was banging away at my keyboard, working out the final pages of my WIP, when a fascinating heron lands on our deck and decides to perform an elaborate act. Highly entertaining. Five stars. Needless to say, it was a lovely distraction.

I’m enjoying being awake to my surroundings here.

I’ve forgotten what rain sounds like. I almost ran downstairs last week because I thought it might be raining and I wanted to see it, but the gushing sound was only the lawn sprinklers. Certain trees rain here though. Not really, but they drizzle on your head. I haven’t figured out the name of these raining trees, but I have identified that they have flower blossoms in them. It’s pretty wild, and if I close my eyes when I’m under one of these trees I like to pretend I’m being rained on.

I share these things for two reasons. One, paying attention to everything around me helps me to feel more engaged with life. Two, moving like this has done a real number on selecting settings for my novels. Connecticut or New England has been home to most of my characters. I lived there for almost half of my life. It’s the place where my roots had the best chance to grow. During the short stopover in Georgia, I tried to envision characters there. Georgia never cemented as a fresh setting. California, however, is vining around me like a gorgeous Clematis. My eyes are opening to its thriving habitat, the land, and the people. I’m taking it all in. And maybe one day it’ll show up as the backdrop to a whole new cast of characters. Wonder if a heron will show up in that book?

The World Needs You Awake

Women crave more sleep. But I’d like to argue too many of us are already sleeping through our lives. We are jonesing for our next caffeine fix as we yawn our way through the carpool line or traffic jam. Our heads remain foggy, distracted, and multi-tasked to the brink of permanently fraying our synapses. And it’s as though all this is happening in a daze, a dream—an otherworldly state.

We are asleep.

On this I 8 Wednesday I’m suggesting 8 things we can do to WAKE UP!

Let’s do this together. Let’s awaken.

Becoming awake…

Awake to Silence

If you’re anything like me, you enjoy noise. Music, phone conversations, even a show on the Food Network bound to make me feel like a loser cook…I fill up my house and head with anything that will keep me from getting the quiet I so need.

Challenge: Turn off the radio in the car, exercise once a week without music, turn the TV off by 9:00 p.m. every night for a week, walk around a graveyard (might want to avoid doing this in a week or so), or take a “phone off” holiday, break regularly from social media

Awake to Loved Ones

Relationships are hard, made harder when we seek to be filled by others. It’s easy to begin drifting to la la land when it comes to loved ones. They are usually the folks we tend to take for granted.

Challenge: Write a handwritten letter of gratitude once a week for the next few months, ask a lot of questions and work hard to listen more than you speak, spend time thinking about how those in your life experience love—what communicates love to them?

Awake to Creation

Hibernating in our caves where our schedules our written like some ancient scrawl, we lose the beauty of what’s happening outside. Outside? Yes, Virginia, there is an outside.

Challenge: Take at least two walks a week, share what you see with a loved one, plan a hike, create a collage from what you collect on your walk, find ways to bring the outdoors in by framing a leaf, making your own swag, learn to breathe fresh air again

Awake to What Distracts

What, I was writing a blog post? But I was just on Twitter, then hopped over to Facebook. Oh, yes, I’m here now. All yours (shah right).

Challenges: Commit to starting and completing at least 2-5 tasks per day and check yourself on this, repeat back what others have said, write down your thoughts as they come, make a priority list and allow those things you’ve listed on the bottom the least amount of your time

Awake to What Discourages

It’s easy to think you’re just having a bad day and those surmounting obstacles are merely coincidental. Maybe they are or perhaps there’s something we can’t fathom trying to knock you down and some of those obstacles are really pawns in the plan.

Challenge: Create a list of what tends to discourage you most, think about the people in your life and whether they’re encouraging or discouraging, check out what the Bible has to say regarding this topic, decide which voices you’ll listen to

Awake to Calling

There’s a reason you’re here. Yes, for God’s glory. But I also happen to believe everyone contributes something of specific value. This can change according to seasons, but you have a calling.

Challenge: Experiment with various forms of creativity, pursue your passion, invest time in improving, ask loved ones to give you wisdom regarding your calling, get accountability, think about what gets you fired up, advocate

Awake to Health

We are so good at caring for others. Sick parent. Drooling toddler. Traveling husband. Our bodies are screaming for a little TLC. Mind. Body. Spirit. We are wise to take care of ourselves.

Challenge: Take B12 (ask your dr.), carve out time to exercise this week, pray, don’t go overboard on Doritos, go overboard on kale or Trader Joe’s Powerberries (dark chocolate covered berries…I’m a little addicted), carve out time to think and be still, carve out time to do all of the above

Awake to Mystery & Faith

It’s never been difficult for me to believe there is more going on here than we could possibly understand. There’s beauty in this for me. Release. Freedom. Mysterious faith.

Challenge: Ask the hard questions, try attending church, crack open a Bible, befriend someone of a different faith and start a conversation, trust in an all powerful God—I dare you.

Alright people, let’s jumpstart our sleepy heads and wake the world up while we’re at it.

Do you see evidence many are walking around asleep? What ways are you feeling led to wake up?

*photo by stock.XCHNG