Odacava

Hello ODACAVA, Its been a long time. Sorry I’ve neglected you. I’m back and hopefully for good!!

Life has been busy since I last wrote here (almost two years ago). I quit my job and then went back to it, I read some amazing books, I went on a 10 day canoe trip in the Tundra, I went on many snowboarding excursions, I was pregnant, I started a business, I had my first child, I had struggles in my marriage and got through them, I tried new recipes, the list goes on. All amazing accomplishments, however it is hard for me to keep track of it all and remember them.

Very often I find myself thinking, I need to get back on ODACAVA. I saw a TED talk Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work and was re-inspired.

Motivated from the video, I want to share everyday positive experiences with you. I want to share stories about the amazing people in my life. I want to share what I am grateful for and my passion for being healthy. I am a doer, but I realize, I need to share my experiences and stories as there are so many great tools out there now to do so.

Here goes, I am grateful for:

With it being Valentines day, I am grateful for Love. I rediscovered Love in the last year. I read the Love is patient, love is kind… (bible verse) every night when I brush my teeth. I’m not a religious person either. I started this after I went to a wedding. My 21 year old young cousin asked me, “What is marriage like?”, I replied, “It’s a lot of work”. As the ceremony began, the new priest started (It was his first wedding). He was not  married himself so he asked the same question to married people he knew, “”What is marriage like?”,  Coincidentally, most replied, “It’s a lot of work”. He then continued on to read the Love bible verse. I had heard it before at previous weddings, but it really hit me hard this particular day. I went home, printed it, and I look at it everyday. Everyday different words stick out and I learn something new about myself everyday.

I am also grateful for my daughter. She is almost 9 months old now. She is sooooooooooooooooooooo much fun!! She makes me laugh. I chase her around the house, she giggles, she is learning so fast. It is amazing to see all the new discoveries she makes every day. She’s our little “day maker”.

I am also grateful for my husband, I have been resentful towards him in the past. Through the love reading I realized this. Just becoming aware of these feelings I am able to control them and stop them and it has really helped our relationship as I have control over negative feelings. My husband is amazing. He is incredibly smart, handsome, athletic, funny, caring, loving, and he does everything he can to take care of our family.

That is all for now. Please don’t judge my writing. In the past I would get hung up on editing and then never publish posts. I’m not going to do that anymore. I want to publish something everyday. It is easy to journal what I am grateful for, so if that is all I have time for each day then so be it, but I want to share as much as I can, so I believe it is a matter of getting back in the habit and to stop being fearful of what others will think and to stop being so knit-picky about editing.

Cheers,

Krista

This weekend I set out to find different things that inspire others. I work in a creative environment and I feel as though it is somewhat my responsibility to help inspire a team of Marketing Managers, Copy writers, Designers, and Developers to do their best at what they do. In my search I ended up stumbling upon a talk on TED by Ken Robinson. It was great, however I internalized this and realized I grew up being afraid of being wrong, afraid of being judged by what I said or did. This was not just a problem, I remember at times I was paralyzed trying to write papers  or tests in university. I literally failed almost every test in University and was almost accused of plagiarism as I couldn’t form my own thoughts because of this pressure to be “right”. In turn, I have grown up to fade into what is “normal” and not take chances. I’ve lost my creativity and urge to do what I want in fear that I would be wrong or I wouldn’t be doing what other expected of me. I would like to embark on a  journey to re-tap into myself and my creativity. For me to publish this will be a very big step for me to put this out into the world, but I would greatly appreciate it if you support me.

In search for Ken Robinson’s literature, I ran into “IGNITE THE GENIUS WITHIN, DISCOVER YOUR FULL POTENTIAL” by Dr. Christine Ranch & Christopher Lee Nutter (The library didn’t have any of Ken’s books in at the time, and there is a long waiting list to get them so I’ll just have to purchase them .

I’ve only read the introduction, but I’m inspired and I’ve already learned a lot. This is a big step for me as I’m usually too afraid to put myself out there and take a chance, but I’d like to share my experiences:

“If you experience anything at all by looking at an image, you are experiencing a reflection of yourself” (Ranck, Nutter. p. ix) Wow, this happens to me all the time, not just with images though, but with music, and everyday life. I’ll be listening to a song and it’ll take me right back to a distinct memory or make me think of an old friend. I experienced this today as I was out for a jog, I was running over the bridge and I looked down at the clear water running over the rocks. I had an amazing sensation of calming and I couldn’t turn my eyes away.

“…nothing is fixed, but rather everything, including you, exists in a state of possibility and therefore can change” (Ranck, Nutter. p ix), from this I realized I can change and I will start by looking at the possibility in things rather than reverting to asking, is this right or wrong?

I also learned the definition of Quantum Leap, “Moving to a different plane of existence without physically moving” (Ranck, Nutter. p ix). I think I experienced this recently.I had a very difficult life decision I had to make with my career. I was working for the company I currently work for now and I had a feeling like there was more for me. I was given an Project Management opportunity with a prestigious agency and client. I took the opportunity. It was a very hard decision as I was happy in my position at the time, but I thought it would get me closer to what I am meant to do. Once working at this agency, I found I was not myself, I was trying to be someone I’m not, I was working crazy hours trying to do what I thought was “right”. I had a harsh realization that this was not what I wanted and that I needed to quit and go back to my previous job where I knew I could attain the balance I needed. Suddenly, the plane of prestige and material existence was no longer important to me. I had shifted to a plane of existence where I had a need to spend time on tapping into myself and spending time with my family and friends. This brought on an incredible calming experience that I’ve been riding since.

“Only want what will make you happy” (Ranck, Nutter. p. x), This is very simple, but you would not believe how often I do things I really do not want to do, but I do them because I think it will make others happy. I need to concentrate on wanting what will make me happy, not others.

“Use your own awareness to see  that everything you want to have, you already do; everywhere you want to go, you’re already there; everything you want to be, you already are.” (Ranck, Nutter. p. x). This quote gets me excited and inspired!! I don’t know why, maybe it is a gratitude thing, not sure. but I love it and I feel it! I’m excited to tap into this feeling more as I read this book.

I’ve also learned I need to stop “forcing” things. I need to  “allow” things to happen. As well I need to work on looking at the possibilities of things and using my creativity to “reveal something that is already there”. I remember as I child. I was playing with cars, and I would fluff up a sleeping bag and make race track for my cars out of the mountain of my sleeping bag.

Lastly for today, I’ve learned I need to “Know my creativity is an expression of my own power to turn every moment of my life into a beautiful piece of art” (Ranck, Nutter. p. xi – xii). When I read this I got a feeling of needing to trust myself and knowing I can trust myself – it feels great!!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this, and I hope I have possibly sparked an awakening in you. Please don’t be afraid (like I usually am) to make a comment.

Cheers,

Krista