If Your Karma Runs Over Your Dogma - don't panic, just sprinkle nuts ... the dry roasted kind ... (a wednesday whine of sorts)

I have a new friend -

(or a friend depending on who you talk to)

she is an artist who teaches Hindu to non-Hindus and we were talking about karma and I was telling her how I thought things happened almost instantaneously for me and how I have to be very careful that I never run over a squirrel

(or anything else, of course, but squirrels always seem to be getting in my way lately)

because I think an airplane or a giant oak tree or a UFO -

(which would totally be worth it to all the UFO crazies in my family who would finally have some actual proof of their existence - not that my family needs proof to believe in anything - and my sacrifice would be a small price to pay, although to be fair to them I am pretty certain they would erect an amazing martian memorial to me along the highway - they are just thoughtful that way)

would immediately crash and crush my car and that would be the end of me, too.

She assured me that it doesn't work like this.

(but she may have let me in on a little secret I will pass along - because if you do ever run over a squirrel, and please don't, but if you ever do there are certain squirrel tributes you can pay in the form of Planter's dry roasted around the neighborhood, so don't panic)

She didn't actually say this, of course, but she did tell me something else that was very interesting.

We were talking about truth and I said " ... if you lie to protect someone's feelings - say for example, when you thank your mother-in-law who has just given your hubby a 10 gallon jar of homemade pickled eggs again that he will want to eat every night and that will smell up your entire kitchen every time the jar is opened - well, that's not really being dishonest, right?"

And she said something that was kind of an aha moment for me -

(and I can't have an aha moment without picturing Oprah nodding solemnly)

"When you try to protect another soul from hurt, you are preventing them from learning their own lessons and this may earn karma - for you. You might like to consider that you were actually trying to shield yourself from feeling your mother-in-law's pain."

(of course this isn't an excuse to be mean to people, but I certainly could have related more honestly about the size of these picklings or maybe I'll just take my karma lumps - anytime anyone wants to lie to me to avoid hurting my feelings and balance my karma, I am ok with this)

She said the same thing about all the things we do for our kids to protect them from failure - that we are preventing them from learning things they are here to learn and we earn karma for ourselves for blocking their growth and this karma must then be balanced.

(this balancing is probably the part a few years later where they tell us they hate us and we are the worst parents on the planet)

Anyhoo, just something to think about while I stock up on Planter's and transfer the pickled eggs to smaller jars - can you transfer pickled things into smaller jars without repickling them? - hopefully I do not poison George - I don't even want to think about the kinds of things I will need to sprinkle around the neighborhood to balance that.

* more good days than bad print by Jen Lewis of JayHell

Leaving the Poetry in What We Make - embracing wabi-sabi

At its most nakedness, wabi-sabi is the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection and wisdom in nature. It's simple, slow, and uncluttered and above all it reveres authenticity.

It is the gift of time and the thing that can't be rushed.

It is the reason we love real flowers instead of plastic ones, even though we know they will wilt, flea markets instead of big box stores, barnwood instead of pergo. It's the reason those botoxed, un-naturally smooth faces on television make us so uncomfortable.

(and as pretty as Target's colorful little plastic thingie is and how much it is calling my name at times, I can leave it in the store because I know my soul just doesn't embrace this stuff anymore - it has no essence, it has no poetry - I know I will forget all about it 10 minutes after I get it home)

It isn't about laziness or letting things come together or fall apart in a messy or sloppy way. It's kind of the opposite of that. The beauty of the frayed edge of grandmas's quilt can only be appreciated in a clean and unencumbered setting.

(this is why the vintage sellers do so much better with empty space in their photos and clean, simple backgrounds - trust me on this vintage sellers)

I have been thinking about Japan alot these last few days (I know we all have) and this concept stands out to me as one of the most wonderful of all Japanese principles.

And for small maker companies it means not being afraid to show the flaws in ourselves and our work because real is never perfect and that is why people connect with it.

It's OK that we're not perfect - it's more than OK actually.

* Secret Door print by SeaLilyStudio
xo

Self Discipline Part II - making things happen when we'd rather be doing something else

Ok, so back to WCIT.

(see Wednesday's post if you have no idea what I am talking about - you may have to read it two or three times to figure out what the hell I am talking about and when you do please let me know - I'm still confused)

Self discipline is about willpower.

We don't always want to hear this. There are so many commercials trying to sell us something that will take the place of this - something that will replace our own power of will with something fast and easy with a money back guarantee -

that they are pretty much guaranteed we will never take them up on because if we do not have the willpower to do the thing ourselves in the first place, we will be way too lazy to send the thing back when it doesn't work.

People who think willpower doesn't work for them or they have none are probably trying to use it way beyond its capacities to work. Willpower is the original thrust that gets things moving - the first action that sets the other things in motion - the starting point.

Self discipline is about challenging ourselves.

This is the hard work part - the part where we do the thing that we are too tired or too burned out or too lazy or too afraid to do - this is where we do the thing that is hard.

"The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work" - Oprah Winfrey

Self discipline is about industriousness.

(and Webster's is trying to tell me that this is not a word but I think I am just a wee bit smarter than Webster's on this one)

This is the kind of discipline that gets those little tasks done - the tasks that are not hard, but they add up.

This is the little stuff that is cluttered all over top of the big stuff, so the big stuff stays hidden. Maybe it is more comfortable for us to leave the big stuff covered up so we will not have to deal with it, we will not have to see just how amazing our life can really be - maybe this is a reason for our busy-ness and our clutter and our inability to say no when we need to - but we can change that and we can change that in this very moment!

This is the part where we clean up our email and our closets, wrap our thousandth bead, mail the invitations early, clean the tub again, fold the towels again - this is where we pay our dues. This is the place where there are no shortcuts.

Self discipline is about tenacity.

Tenacity is what keeps the action moving forward. This is the part where you keep going even when you just don't feel it anymore.

Now this doesn't mean that we never give up - sometimes giving up is the best thing to do - sometimes we clearly have to let go of things to make room for better things.

Have you ever heard of a company called Traf-O-Data? It was started by Bill Gates and Paul Allen (yes, the Bill Gates and Paul Allen who started Microsoft). It was the thing they let go of in order to make room for something better.

It's not about clinging to the past (if it is then it isn't going to work for us) - it is about moving toward our vision of the future - a vision that is so compelling we will do anything to make it real.

So, WCIT is how we build self discipline. And I think without self discipline all the amazing work we are passionately wanting to create may never end up in the hands of the people who will love it; it may even not ever get made at all.

So, we get clear on what we want - we set our intention - we use willpower to get ourselves going - we challenge ourselves by doing the hard stuff - we challenge ourselves by doing the tedious stuff - we don't give up.

It's really as easy and as difficult as that.

(I need a nap and yes naps are totally allowed and encouraged - there is an absolute balance to this - no one can do it all, not all the time)

Next week I am going back to intention and doing a post on polarity -

(not the locket this time, but the non-content part of our thoughts - the part that makes our thoughts things - the law of attraction stuff that really does work)

this sounds boring now that I write it but it isn't trust me and it is the thing that allows (along with self discipline and passion) Cousin Daisy, uh, I mean Cousin Daisy Mae to manifest all kinds of amazing things and we can, too.

* I Just Ate My Willpower print by persimmonandpink
* be posititve, patient and persistent print by trulyvera

If you are still awake after reading this post check out my interview on Lisa Jacobs blog HERE and my shop critique for Betsy and Bess on the Ecoetsy team blog HERE and Maki from JustBento has put together a great list HERE of ways to help Japan - have a wonderful weekend everyone! xo