A few months ago, the amazingly talent artist Jessie had blogged about her Buddha Bowl. Rather than getting crazed by a long to-do list, Jessie used her bowl as a sacred container for intentions. In yet another stroke of synchronicity, it was just around that same time that I started to use a bowl for a similar ritual.

I had been feeling totally overwhelmed with the many creative ideas swimming around in my head and feeling really frustrated that none of them where as far along as I had wanted them to be. My coach Marcy reminded me that, indeed, I have been making progress little by little and I would benefit from having a way to honor my incremental steps. She suggested the simple structure of a bowl and beautiful beads.

So, after I do anything for any of my projects, I place a bead into the bowl. Do a bit of writing, place a bead into the bowl. Get feedback from friends on my ideas, place a bead into the bowl. Research different raw materials, place a bead into the bowl. The repetition can be meditative. And it’s way more aesthetically pleasing than tracking the status of tasks in a complicated project plan! With my fresh start this past week, I’ve found myself placing a few more beads into the bowl (it had been awhile), so that acknowledgment of moving forward again felt fantastic.

If you’re like me, your mind probably quickly jumps to the next thing before you’ve even recognized what you just accomplished. This bowl and bead ritual is an easy way to celebrate each step along your path and to remind yourself that every little action makes a difference. Before you know it your bowl will runneth over!

What small steps will you acknowledge today? What’s a simple and beautiful way you can honor your progress?

This week was all about starting anew. My schedule had been off kilter ever since getting back from my London trip. My parents came for a nice visit the weekend following and then my dear friend Brighid from Chicago came to stay after that. And then I got a not-so-fun-visit from the stomach flu bug. Yuck! Even though being sick sucked, I eventually allowed myself to enjoy simply lounging around and doing nothing. Well, nothing except sleeping, reading, catching up on my Martha’s and Oprah’s on TiVo and munching on the occasional saltine cracker.

There was something surprisingly refreshing about canceling my appointments for the week and just focusing on rest and relaxation. I rarely allow myself to indulge in a big chunk of “me-time” like that except for when I’m officially on a vacation. Once I regained my health, I felt energized and ready to reclaim my time and space. My take-away: schedule in an “unofficial week-long home vacation” every now and then. They cost nothing and the rewards are priceless!

This week, I ritualized my fresh start by:

• Doing tons of laundry - gotta love the feeling of fresh new sheets and towels (especially after having been cooped up in bed for most of last week!)
• Obsessively cleaning my desk, my bedroom and the kitchen
• Putting the inflatable bed away to transform the guestroom back into the sacred space of my meditation/yoga/coaching room
• Finally catching up on my bookkeeping - yay!!! (had been many months behind with reconciling and was feeling blocked financially)
• Practicing yoga in my backyard on Monday
• Whipping out a brand new toothbrush and switching the flavor of my toothpaste (ahh, the simple pleasures)
• Taking a hike in the redwood trails near my house with my friend Kate and my dog Emmett
• Creating a visual timeline for my creative endeavors (see picture above)
• Updating my quarterly business goals
• Finally posting about my last week of the 29-Day Giving Challenge
• Returning to my blog!

Whew, I feel back in the land of the living again and it feels great! I’m motivated to work on my creative projects while also giving myself time throughout the week to have mini-vacations.

How do you reclaim your time and space? What would a fresh start give you?

At the end of April I took a short trip to London to visit with four of my dear friends from my leadership tribe. It had been about three and a half years since we were all together, so we were thrilled to have a mini-reunion.

The four bellas - a radiantly pregnant Tina, Lisa, me and Fiona - were happy to be together. We have been connecting off and on on the phone over the past several years and it’s always like a breath of fresh air when we’re all together. Fiona, being the fabulous idea generator that she is came up with a “development day” concept where each of us got time to share what was going on in our lives and get support, coaching, insights and feedback. Pretty awesome considering we’re all trained coaches who care deeply about each other!

Beks‘ son Callum and Fiona’s son Pierre meet for the first time. Too cute!

A gorgeous view from Richmond Park where we spent a warm, sunny afternoon with the boys.

All five of us together before heading out to dinner at a delicious Turkish restaurant.

An afternoon at Petersham Nurseries.

We dined on yummy sweet potato and ginger soup in the lovely Petersham Nurseries greenhouse. Just heavenly!

A view of the Thames from the Petersham Hotel where we enjoyed high tea complete with finger sandwiches sans crusts and scones with clotted cream. A table near us had a group of gray-haired well-dressed women and we joked that that would be us forty years from now at one of our future reunions! I love to think of us continuing to make time to connect like that. These women are such an important part of my life and we have seen each other through lots of growth and transition. I am so glad I said yes to this spontaneous trip to spend time with dear friends.