I envy those who know early on what their life path will be. I am in my 40’s and am still wandering aimlessly, looking for my direction.
I enjoy blogging but am struggling to find my voice. When Amy publishes something, you know what to expect. (Well that’s really not true at all and a large part of what makes her writing awesome, but you DO know you’ll get a glimpse of her soul.) When I publish something, you know that it will be me making another attempt at…well…something.
New Friend
I’ve got a new friend in town named Kathy. I figure she’s a lot like me, but better at it. Kathy’s getting her advanced degree in Eco Art Therapy and plans to open a “practice” here in Cody. I put practice in quotes because, as I listen to her talk about her goals, I don’t see it involving a lot of laying on a sofa talking or stuffy waiting rooms with waterfall sounds and wooden flute music. You can watch her progress at NatureConfidental.com. I’m excited for my friend to find work that she loves. Another reason I’m excited about her work is that I’ve got a new client for my business. Again, no cash changing hands here, but, I’ve agreed to help her with the business mechanics of starting her business, and she’s agreed to help me figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
First Tasks
We have our first official coaching session set up for the end of the week, but, until then, she’s given me a couple of tasks. First, she gave me the book The Alchemist
Second, she writes in her blog about downsizing and removing distractions being a major piece of finding her path. We were hanging out at the park watch our boys run crazy and talking about how I was soon going to be a candidate for the show Hoarders. I told Kathy I feel like the historian of my family. With Amy, as she’s traveling the world, holding on to only what she can fit into a small shipping container, I am the collector of memories from our family. But, with the loss of my mother-in-law (which I wrote about here.), I feel like I am the one to preserve B’s family history too. Red might want to see the yearbooks, cookbooks, furniture, artwork, on and on. I’ve saved so many things thinking he might want them some day. Kathy said something to me about them just being THINGS and not my mother-in-law. It was like she gave me permission to let the THINGS go. I can preserve her memory with out holding on to her things.
Thankfully, I’ve had a couple of low headache days, and I sorted through the five…yes FIVE…storage tubs of clothing that no longer fit, but I was thinking someday might. I’ve narrowed it down to two tubs. One, not full, has my very favorite pieces out of those five tubs (baby steps). The other has ski gear in it. Everything else, is either being sold or donated. I haven’t decided which.
The next project I’ve chosen to tackle, is to turn the office space into an organized place where I can focus. A haven. I took some before photos when I assigned myself this task. I checked the date on the photo, and it was January of this year. Thanks, Kathy, for getting my tail in gear.
Notice the gremlin that lives under my desk
I share this space with B. This is his corner.
Kathy’s Tasks
I’ve assigned Kathy a couple of tasks too. First, film a couple of short videos explaining Eco Art Therapy in a way I can understand and post them on her site. Second, I think she should move her applicable writing to her new site or at least link the two up. There’s so much great info on her blog which existed long before she figured out what SHE wanted to be when she grew up.
Your Tasks
I plan to track my progress so make sure to scroll down to the bottom of this page and subscribe to Purple Monkey Mayhem.
If you’ve removed a major hurdle in your path of figuring out what you want to be when you grow up, please comment below. I’ll have to pick another task soon and insight would be appreciated.
Update
