Oh my Lord! There’s so MUCH to do …

Thinking of Eloise this morning as I listen to the steady rain outside … wondering what happened to Fall after having no Summer this year.  Such STRANGE weather everywhere!

For those who may not recall:
Eloise is a six-year-old girl who lives in the “room on the tippy-top floor” of the Plaza Hotel in New York with her Nanny, her pug dog Weenie, and her turtle Skipperdee.

I’m not planning to pour a bucket of water down the mail chute, but the lyric of the song I learned as a child about this 6 year old character in a series of children’s books (written by Kay Thompson and illustrated by Hilary Knight) darted through my mind as I look at the ‘to do’ list on my desk (leading to the title of this post) … then a quick Google search led me to the Eloise Web Site (I had no idea this was out there!) where I reminisced a while before returning to the present post and the day at hand.

Such DISTRACTIONS in the face of feeling OVERWHELM reminds me of Kara’s recent posts at Creative Dawdling.  Remembering Conditions of Enoughness Jen shared at both retreat experiences in Taos while internally processing the clarion call of her post You Are Called at Comfort Queen (after finding Sharon’s link at Facebook this morning) … I’m aware of the regular effort I’m making to S L O W   D O W N to listen within these days.

Breaking old habits and establishing new patterns is challenging, but I’m doing what I can with what I have where I am …. asking myself ‘what will help me GROW forward’ into my life’s purpose joyfully. I’m taking wobbily baby steps with eyes, heart, mind, and spirit wide open … trusting that curiosity and love point the way to those I’m meant to serve.

This morning I shared the following thoughts with Isabel Parlett-the Soundbite Shaman while responding to a survey she emailed yesterday.

My biggest challenge in telling people what I do is finding & maintaining clarity within myself first, then finding the right words to convey my vision, purpose or message in ways others understand and perceive to be of value.

The cost of living with this challenge is that I can’t fully step into this new venture of my Life Purpose without finding the words to spread the news of services I offer to those who would benefit most … nor am I able to receive payment for the work I feel called to do in the world right now.

Personal frustration with my current difficulties translating my vision into tangible products and services people want and need … along with the sense I don’t yet know enough about marketing to take advantage of interest others expressed in my Labyrinth Journal products at the Your Purpose Summit and since I’ve been home as well.

I want to discover meaning filled words to keep my purpose clearly alive within my own mind so that I can talk about my services and products with joyful confidence, energy and excitement … attracting the kinds of people I want to work with who are willing to spend money to achieve desired results.

So … that’s where I am this morning. I need to publish this so I can listen to a ‘free call’ with Samantha Bennett of the Organized Artist Company entitled ‘Procrastination is Genius in Disguise: Five Surprising Truths about Getting Unstuck!’ scheduled to begin in about 7 minutes. I’ll be multi-tasking as I listen … stopping to take notes occasionally … working to create the ‘comfortably clear, clean, inviting surroundings conducive to creatively GROWING forward into my true life’s purpose and work’ that I’ve envisioned for my home environment 😉

Here’s wishing all of you a delightfully fun and productive day doing what YOU love!
Hugs and blessings,
Virginia

PS at 12:15pm
The call was well worth the time to listen and I have ideas to use immediately … some new and a few nifty things I knew already and appreciate being reminded of. I sent her this in email:

I loved this morning’s call and got a LOT from it that I’m sure I’ll use. I love your energy and the way you cut through resistance quickly in simple ways … so I’d love to work with you because I’m sure your ideas will be helpful. I’ve been a happily retired public school educator for about a decade, pursuing a wide variety of interests just for fun. In the past two months a series of events has led me to believe it’s time for me to move ahead into a newly discovered Life Purpose. I’ve made significant progress.

In trying to decide whether or not to sign up for your training, I’m concerned that I may be over-committed at the moment … wondering if adding one more thing might push me over the edge into total overwhelm or pull me in too many directions. I’ve paid to work with Vrinda Normand during the next 8 weeks to write ‘Irresistible Website copy that Sells’ … to work with Lynne Klippel & Christine Kloser in their LIVE 6-month Get Your Book Done program starting the middle of this month … for daily coaching calls with Lynne Brodie from October 18-27 to tackle clearing clutter from my home, I’m part of Isabel Parlett’s R&D group for a new program she has under development and I’m working with Vervante to get a different book published.

I know I need to make the decision for myself … and perhaps I just need to hold this all in mind as I go through my day … listening to my gut, but I decided to send this note to say THANK YOU for the call. I’m glad to know you’re out there. Do you know when you might next offer this training?
Hugs and blessings,
Virginia

and she responded:

Hi Virginia!
So glad you wrote and thrilled you got good stuff from the call.
You are certainly signed up for a bunch of stuff right now (I love Vervante, too!) and whether Get It Done would be the clarifying lens that pulled it all together or the straw that broke the camel’s back (or at least sent the camel back to bed feeling totally overwhelmed), I honestly can’t say.
Sleep on it.
Thanks again –
Best,
Sam
Samantha Bennett
The Organized Artist Company

Methinks that’s exactly what I’ll do 😉