Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.
James Stephens

Feeling fearful about something overwhelming or unknown?

It may be a project or a goal.

Or it could be a surprising circumstance like the one shown in the photo, a time when I heard hooves running toward me. Surprised and frightened, I could see mountain goats suddenly running my way.

While it’s easy to say, try replacing fear with curiosity, even briefly.

You may be surprised at what the change yields.

Curiosity, once engaged, can be a very powerful force.

And you can always return to the fear-driven way, if you miss it.

Until then, even briefly, set fear aside.

Relax. And let curiosity guide your way.

The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium.
Norbet Platt

Uncertain of which way to go?

Unsure what the problem is that you have to solve?

Or do you know that something is “bugging” you, but you don’t know what it is?

Set aside confusion and complexity.

Write it out.

Here’s all you have to do:

1. Carve out some open-ended time.

2. Add music you like.

3. Find a comfortable pen and paper.

4. Then write. Just write.

Let the words and ideas flow freely.

Ideas and answers will come to you.

Write it out.

As we do, my process often includes feeling the emotions and memories attached to each item.

That can be a BIG mistake, in a home-clearing way. It causes me to, sometimes, hang onto things longer than when they are, actually, practically useful to us.

However, it does yield a home rich with memories and meaning.

My husband is typically looking to just get rid of “stuff.”

He seeks a more sterile, distilled, efficient place.

Sometimes, though, we switch roles and decision criteria.

For example, there was a Halloween costume I made our now-27-year-old daughter the year I was pregnant with our son. Matt is now 20, so that costume has been in storage for a while.

Anne’s costume that year was an orange M&M. It’s two big puffy orange pillows, each with a white “M” in the center of each one, attached with ribbon straps.

I joked at the time I made it that, with one puffy pillow in the front and one in the back, it was as close to the space-taking experience of being pregnant as Anne would have until she was really pregnant, herself.

And so, after having kept the costume around for years, I was finally ready to donate it to Goodwill in the past year.

Practically, I decided, we had photos we could enjoy of Anne wearing it. And it was bulky, gathering dust, and unlikely to be something our kids’ kids would wear.

Amazingly, after I set the costume on the donation pile, Gary, who NEVER retrieves things once they’re on their way out the door, plucked that one item from the “to go” pile.

We had temporarily switched decision criteria.

You just never know what stays and what goes.

What criteria do you use when it’s time to sort through and let go of “stuff,” whatever that “stuff” may be? (It’s not always physical…it can be habits and ways of doing things).

“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.”
H. Jackson Browne

Sometimes we forget that we’re building our tomorrow today.

Our decisions, actions and the results we create now become the place where we begin on the new day.

Tomorrow begins now. And it will be far easier if you do your best today.

What is one action you can take that will lead to a better, easier tomorrow?

“Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains…”
Diane Ackerman

Zoe picks up the scent of horses that preceded us on this beach one afternoon.

The sight and scent of horses surely reminded her of growing up, for her earliest months were spent on a horse breeder’s farm.

What scents bring back memories for you of times long gone?

And what fragrances, when you catch them, momentarily make you think of home?

Nothing goes to waste in this San Jose grocery store.

Rose petals are turned into a food product, set out for sale right next to the salad fixings.

Perhaps there’s something in your work or world that, instead of being overlooked or tossed aside, could be a source of:

- Creativity
- Inspiration
- Improvements in something
- New product or service ideas
- Inspiration for someone else

Take a fresh look around.

There may be great new ideas, even new riches to be found, perhaps in a spot where you least expect them.

Part of a lavish floral Valentine’s Day display, this lavender rose bouquet made me smile.

Enjoy these thoughts on love and life:

Love is the magician that pulls man out of his own hat.
Ben Hecht

Love is the flower you’ve got to let grow.
John Lennon

Love is what you’ve been through with somebody.
James Thurber

Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.
Zelda Fitzgerald

Sometimes you just have one of those moments.

This surfer has had better rides, on better waves, and better days.

We all have moments like this, especially if we’re learning, taking risks, testing ourselves (I can recall plenty of moments like this of my own).

Maybe that’s on my mind because it’s the high-intensity holiday week for many people around the world.

These celebratory times can be fun but intense.

Energy, hope and expectations run high.

And then.

Here’s a short list of things that can go wrong with the holidays when reality sets in:

- You don’t quite get everything done that “MUST” be done

- Someone is disappointed with their gift (maybe that disappointed someone is you)

- Gifts are mismatched

- The dinner rolls catch fire (and that happened not once, but TWICE to us the year we served holiday dinners to our extended families in our first home.

Maybe the rolls were trying to tell us something!

It happened first when the napkin in the bread basket caught fire when it was too close to the candles on the table.

And the second time, the bag we were steaming the rolls in caught fire in a too-full oven.

- A tire goes flat and guests won’t arrive by the time the turkey comes out of the oven

- A much-wanted present is broken in transit

- A flight is delayed for the important few days together

- A traveling dog does not adjust well to a new location and her now-missing routine and surroundings (and, hey, she’d never vacationed before…and it can be stressful)

- The budget is blown as presents, exuberantly bought in the holiday fever, add up to far more cost than the buyers thought in the middle of the frenzy

And so…

You accept.

Acceptance sounds easy enough to do, but it’s not.

Especially in the thick of the circumstances that most require it.

The first step to change is to acknowledge your circumstances as they really are.

Face the facts, quite literally.

Square up with them. Face them directly.

Sit with them for a bit.

Let them really soak in.

And be as OK with what is happening as you can be at the moment, for the circumstances aren’t going to change until you do.

And know that in that grand scheme of things, your big goal can still all work out…just not quite the way you’d imagined it would.

Then do what you can to creatively adjust, using the resources you have and can conjure up.

Oh, and remember that dog visiting a new location, and not adjusting well?

It was our dog. And it was our daughter’s boyfriend’s house, where we were all gathering from various parts of the country.

The housemates who lived there had four cats, between them.

Yes, I know, I know.

We all wonder what we were even thinking, imagining that it would all work out easily.

But on paper it looked good.

The dog knew and accepted cats. She lived with and loved one as a friend.

And our daughter and her boyfriend had rescued a dog once that was so mellow that almost hoped its owner wouldn’t be found.

Weren’t all dogs like that?

Actually, no.

Not ours.

And so, when our golden retriever was following her retriever nose, she found the first cat’s hidden lair, under an upstairs back bedroom bed.

The cat fled down the stairs in terror, flew across the dining room, and scrambled up the window screen, dog racing closely behind.

The cat, having scaled the window screen, clung there until she was safely picked off.

And we, the various owners of the various pets, pow-wowed to try to figure out how to make the real life situation work.

I, for one, grabbed the leash and took her for a long, long walk to drain her anxious, excess energy off and give the others time to think.

And the dog?

For the rest of the visit, she wouldn’t go anywhere NEAR the stairs leading up to the hidden lair. It was intriguing, yes, but clearly FAR too dangerous.

Well, adventure aside, everyone survived, animals and people, too.

So whatever adventure your holidays bring, you will survive them, too.

The good adventure that will finally emerge, despite your well-honed plans all starts with acceptance.

Change often starts in small, simple, barely perceptible ways. Here, a few simple leaves take the lead as they change for fall.

Soon the ground will be carpeted by orange and red. Change starts simply, subtly before it sweeps through all.