Inspiring Heart-Work, Creativity, and Magic!
With Valentine’s Day right in the middle of February, this month always makes me think of love and matters of the heart. I’ve been inspired to tend to the relationships around me and to consider how well I love and care for myself, reminding myself of the example I am setting for my children on a daily basis. I challenged myself to write on a red, cutout heart each day, for each of my kids, something I love and appreciate about them. I noticed how this shifted my moods on days I felt rushed and grumpy, and how even on days I felt positive, loving, and patient, how this brought me added joy, this pausing to consider all the ways and traits and things I love about each of my children.
As I write this, I am wondering what I would write and how I would feel if I challenged myself to think of something each day that I love and appreciate about myself. So often, and I know I am not alone, I am quick to criticize myself and rarely think of the things I’ve done well or like about myself. Perhaps that is the challenge for me and for you as we finish out the month of February – consider each day what you love and appreciate about yourself and write it down! Notice how you feel when you acknowledge good, positive, wonderful things about yourself and write that down, too. What comes up for you? Is this task easy or difficult and why? What if you make this a habit? How do you start to feel? How does your view of yourself begin to shift? How does the tone of your inner voice change?
Quote(s) I am Pondering:
One of my favorite times of day is when I get to read with one of my kids before bed. This is a task my husband and I divide and conquer. One of the books I recently read with my younger son was The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. This quote stood out and made me ponder, along with the second quote I came across elsewhere that also seemed to fit. These quotes made me think of the various ways we can approach brokenness and pieces, with carelessness or intention. Our attitudes can determine the outcome of how we bring the pieces together and what we make of them.
“There are those hearts, reader, that never mend again once they are broken. Or if they do mend, they heal themselves in a crooked and lopsided way, as if sewn together by a careless craftsman.”
~ Kate DiCamillo, The Tale of Despereaux ~
“Sometimes when things are falling apart, they may actually be falling into place.”
~ Unknown ~
Podcast I’m Listening To and Appreciating:
Magic Lessons with Elizabeth Gilbert #BigMagic
Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
which I featured in my Three Thoughts for Thursday, November 2020.
In this podcast series, Elizabeth Gilbert sets out to provide “roadmaps for creativity.” She takes the subject of creativity out into the world to have real conversations with real people, giving us the extra nudge we need when we’re feeling stuck in our creative lives. This podcast was intended to “help another batch of aspiring artists overcome their fears and create more joyfully.”
Unfortunately, there are only two seasons of this podcast, but it is still worth the listen! What are your creative gifts and what are you doing to nourish and use them?
Book I’m Reading:
Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown
What Amazon has to say:
In Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a journey through eighty-seven of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances—a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heartbreaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection.
Over the past two decades, Brown’s extensive research into the experiences that make us who we are has shaped the cultural conversation and helped define what it means to be courageous with our lives. Atlas of the Heart draws on this research, as well as on Brown’s singular skills as a storyteller, to show us how accurately naming an experience doesn’t give the experience more power—it gives us the power of understanding, meaning, and choice.
Brown shares, “I want this book to be an atlas for all of us, because I believe that, with an adventurous heart and the right maps, we can travel anywhere and never fear losing ourselves.”
You can sign up to receive my Three Thoughts for Thursday post as an email on the third Thursday of every month by clicking here.
Please check out my latest blog post, The Problem of Intentions. You can also find my most recent posts, Be Careful, Recipes and Inspiration Yield Different Results! and Losing Sight, along with my January edition of Three Thoughts for Thursday here, on my blog, as well. Beginning in April 2021, I have had the privilege of Co-Hosting with Kathy Hadizadeh, the Emotional Intelligence Special Interest Group for ICFLA. Please join us next week, on Tuesday, February 22nd at 11:00 am PST for our first session of 2022, The Impact of our Blindspots on our Coaching with our very special guest and EI and coaching expert, Alison Whitmire, President of Learning in Action.
In January, I kicked off the workshop series “EQ and WooWoo” with my colleague and Spiritual Coach, Katie Kay, designed to begin the new year with manifestation in mind. We will be hosting quarterly sessions that intertwine the use of Tarot and Emotional Intelligence to help you and your clients step outside the box in order to take your coaching work deeper and create intentional action. Upcoming sessions will take place on March 22nd, June 23, and September 21 – email or watch for future announcements for details on how to register.
If you are interested in joining and co-creating these learning communities, please use the link above to find out more about ICFLA’s workshops and watch for more information on registering for March’s Curate Your Garden: Workshop 2 in the year-long series on “EQ and WooWoo”. I hope you will come along for the journey!
I’m always looking for new inspiration, new books to read, new podcasts to listen to, so please send your suggestions my way or comment on this post to offer some new recommendations!
As always, thank you for your continued support and readership! Stay strong, stay brave, stay true to you!
Wishing you a season of light and love – both for yourself and those around you!
Desiree Briel Rodi Consulting & Coaching 
[…] and Inspiration Yield Different Results! and my February edition of Three Thoughts for Thursday here on my blog, as well. Beginning in April 2021, I have had the privilege of Co-Hosting with Kathy Hadizadeh, […]
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