Nature, Awareness & Choices

On Tuesday & Friday mornings I invite you Behind the Scenes at my studio.

Today: My early mornings have me paying attention to the world around me. Plus, I’m paying attention to what’s within me as I make a big decision.

Announcement: I will be LIVE on YouTube on Tuesday September 19 at 9:00 am EST to share with you this season in The Studio plus answer any questions you have about classes in The Academy. Subscribe to my channel on YouTube to get a notification when I am live.

Mentioned on Today’s Show:

September 14, 2017

In the Spotlight with Tanya Geisler

For years I have had the joy of co-working with one of the most brilliant, heart-centred coaches I know, Tanya Geisler. There’s inevitably magic when we get down to business and so when she asked me to be on her brand new podcast I was both honoured and delighted. I’m excited to be able to share this conversation with you.

We talked about…

How to start something that is meaningful to you.
When you start something new, what voice should you listen to?
Making big, brave asks with integrity, sincerity, and respect.
Unhooking from the fear or pain of rejection\Starting out and forging your own path instead of following predetermined paths step-by-step

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Visit Tanya and learn more about the Imposter Complex and Stepping into Your Starring Role

If you want to take this convo with you, check out the podcast version by subscribing to In the Spotlight with Tanya Geisler on iTunes.

September 13, 2017

Creative Living Adventure: Horseback Riding

This season I’ve done a major shakeup to my schedule. One of the things I wanted to get back to was going on regular adventures with Justin. We love exploring and sharing new experiences together and this past weekend we did just that by going horseback riding with Toronto Adventures. We left the house in the dark, watched the sunrise as we rode the all-night bus to our pick-up spot and boarded the Adventure Bus at 7:30 AM.

The bus took us up to Claireville Ranch in the Claireville Conservation Area in Brampton, just north of Toronto. It is so close and yet, for a city girl like me, it feels like a getaway. Of course, the realities of the environment quickly become clear.

When you step off the bus, you are greeted with the smell of horses. Want a quick pee break before you start your ride? There’s the outhouse. While you’re standing in line to get your helmets, don’t be surprised if the horses are peeing too! Lol, Justin and I looked at each other with smiles and said, “Nature.”

For the ride you could choose to rent a helmet or go without. We tend to be a “better safe than sorry” couple and so we put down our $6 each. As Justin said, “If the leaders are wearing helmets, I’m wearing a helmet.” Good thinking! I tried on all the pink ones and the ones with horses too but none of them fit so I went with classic black.

Once we signed our waivers and made our helmet choices, we stood together as a group and were assigned our horses. “You, Georgia.” “You, Ditto.” “You, Sierra.” Justin was matched to the biggest horse in the group, Chip. A bit intimidating, yes, but Chip turned out to be a lovely horse. I was so glad. On Justin’s one and only previous experience with horseback riding, he was thrown so it was a big deal that he had said yes to this adventure and I really wanted him to have a lovely experience.

Of course, I was thrilled when the leader looked at me and said, “You, Karma.” Now that’s got to be a good sign! Karma is a beautiful horse, as you can see from the photo. It didn’t take me long to figure out that she was companionable but didn’t suffer fools lightly. For the first hour of the trip, we were negotiating.

Before the ride, we received brief instruction, including being told not to let our horses eat the grass. We were also informed that every one of the horses would definitely try to do so! With Karma, if we were all stopped for a bit and she wanted to eat a little grass, she’d totally ignore my correction. However, if we were moving along and she tried to grab a nibble, I’d correct and she’d respond right away. Perfectly reasonable, Karma. I get you.

After an hour, we made a stop for a “cowboy breakfast” that had been prepared for us in a clearing. Coffee was an immediate yes and really good too! Then there were eggs, beans, bacon, sausage and hash browns – plenty to fill you up after your gentle morning ride. It was interesting to hear the guides talk about the horses and their time at the ranch. Our leader had been volunteering there since she was 8 years old! As she said, “Once it’s in you, it doesn’t leave.”

After breakfast, we had another hour ride ahead. In the first hour, I had been struck by how familiar the terrain was. These were trees I recognized, plants I recognized, but something about the ride reminded me to look closer, to be present. Yes, I have seen goldenrod before but I have never seen a whole field of yellow alive with monarch butterflies from the back of a horse. Priceless. And then there was the oddly quintessential Toronto moment of being able to ride a horse under a highway bridge and look at graffiti. All of this while in connection with the strong presence of Karma. This was a day I won’t soon forget.

After our ride, we had some time to hang out at the ranch. What a treat to spend more time around the horses. It’s interesting. During our lunch break, one of the participants was saying that she found the horses expressionless. She said, “There’s no smile in their eyes.” The guide said, “You have to learn to read their energy. I can tell how happy he is to be out and on this walk today. I can feel it. You just haven’t come to know them yet.” I wondered what it was like to learn the language of horses, to understand their signals and I was delighted to be taught a little lesson by the horse you see in the photo above.

As we stood nearby, he came right over and it was clear to me that he wanted to say hi. I walked over gently and he moved his head closer. I put my lightly closed fist up and he pushed his nose into it. My heart soared. I thought that was it but then he gave that little nudge, that nudge that I recognize from all the cats I’ve known, that nudge that says, “I want you to pet me here.” So I followed his lead and rubbed that velvety soft spot right above his nose and reveled in this moment of connection and communication. Thank you, you beauty.

And, of course, no journey would be complete without having an encounter with a “cat in the ‘hood”! As we waited to board the adventure bus for the journey home, we discovered this sweet kitten who was quite happy to play, to pose and to get some cuddles. The perfect ending to a wonderful day.

September 12, 2017

The BTS is Back!

On Tuesday & Friday mornings I invite you Behind the Scenes at my studio.

Today: I’m excited to be back in the studio with you! I’m trusting my instincts and risking making big changes. I hope that inspires you to risk building your life on what is true in your heart. Plus, our first BTS Bulletin Board of the season!

Mentioned on Today’s Show:

Journal Questions are in the Academy Calendar.
Creative Living with Jamie
I’m Taking My Blog Back

September 11, 2017

Creative Resource: Used Books from the Library

Recently my sister Shannon told me that the Toronto Public Library has a used bookstore. She’d been wanting to go for a long time so we decided to have a little Friday adventure!

Book Ends has two locations and we went to the one in the Reference Library at Yonge & Bloor. I spent a lot of time in that library when I was in high school. When I had a big assignment, I would skip class for the day and come downtown to the library instead. I would find a good spot, gather my materials and read, read read, write, write, write. Every now and then I would take a break, leaving my stuff and grabbing a coffee or exploring another section of the library and sitting on the floor with a great find.

Speaking of great finds, Shannon and I literally walked in the door, turned the corner and found this…

It might not look like much to the non-Ridler eye but for us, it is a treasure: the book we used to learn piano! We always had a piano in our home. Though none of us stuck with lessons for very long, the girls in the family enjoyed playing one or two songs and several Christmas carols. Our grandma would play for us when she would visit. Some of my earliest memories are of dancing around the living room as she made the piano sing. She didn’t need written music; she just played.

Magic.

I picked up Sugar & Spice for 50 cents, excited about how I can use this meaningful music in art projects.

When I shop for secondhand books , I never come home with fiction. In fact, I rarely come home with books I am going to read! What other kinds of books are there? I go in search of books to look at, books to glide through, books that build my visual vocabulary and spark my imagination, plus books to use as art-making materials. I love art books, photography books, coffee table books, animal books, travel books and kids books. (I heart the illustrations in kids books)

Like me, Shannon will look for visual gems but she will also gather great reads, from fiction to plays to poetry. She shares a lot of her reading on her YouTube Channel. Check it out!

If you were headed to a used book sale, what section would we find you in?

I plan on doing a “haul” video about the books I picked up but in the meantime, here’s the pile I came home with for $10!

I’m going to be cutting up The Natural History of Canada and dividing the pages with Shannon. LOL, does the thought of cutting up a book freak you out? I still can’t believe that I do that kind of thing. I used to keep my books very pristine. In fact, I used to be so particular that when my siblings borrowed one of my books, they would barely open it when reading, in the hope that they could return it looking just like new!

Oh, how I’ve changed. Now I highlight with abandon and write in the margins. I use books as sketchbooks and I use book covers as folders. I have cut dozens apart and use their pages for junk journals. I don’t think this means I am any less of a book lover. If anything, with this active interaction, I feel like I’ve come to love books even more.

I encourage you to expand your relationship with books.

Buy them. Borrow them. Read them. Respond to them. Write in them (though not if you borrowed them) Colour in them. Display them. Alter them. Highlight them. Write them. Gift them. See if your library sells them and/or discovered where you can treasure hunt for them in your neighbourhood. Above all, enjoy them! We certainly do!

September 10, 2017

I’m Taking My Blog Back

I began blogging over 10 years ago and it changed my life. What started as a fun structure to inspire my creativity turned into a community of connection, a calling and eventually a creative business. When I wrote that first one-paragraph post, I had no idea that it would turn out like this!

That was back in the days before blogging became a lifestyle business, before it became an entrepreneurial necessity. It wasn’t about branding; it was abut bonding. It was about expressing ourselves and in so doing discovering that around the world there were people like us, people who loved to paint or bake or write poetry. It was about suddenly discovering there were members of your tribe in Boston and Edinburgh and Adelaide. It was about sharing our stories, both vulnerable and triumphant. It was about sharing our creations both wobbly and wonderful. It was about square pegs who found themselves struggling in round holes, people in regular jobs living regular lives who wanted to spend the weekend tossing sequins in the air at the beach.

Blogging helped us remember who we were on the inside. Blogging helped us come alive.

In those days, it was exciting to think that maybe, just maybe, you could make some money through your blog. Maybe you could get some sponsors, maybe enough to pay for your hosting or maybe even some art supplies. Maybe you could create a little e-course that your community would embrace and enjoy. It was a time when you could get a little “what if” twinkle in your eye, imagining that maybe you could earn a living sharing and creating from your heart. Imagine!

I followed that dream. I invested in professional training so that I could coach the creatives that I so wanted to help. I started teaching classes about listening to our souls, finding and following our dreams and discovering our creative hearts. I remember the deep joy and satisfaction of completing my first offering, Soul Reflections, a self-study workshop that helped you use collage and journaling to discover the truth that was deep in your heart. And I remember that ‘dream come true’ feeling of people buying it – not to mention the deep fulfillment of people letting me know it made a difference.

I created something that made a difference.

That’s what it was and is all about.

Then suddenly the world got hip to blogging and this grassroots art form got professionalized. Suddenly it wasn’t just regular people writing about their creative lives. It was rock stars, bestselling authors and self-help gurus. Bloggers were talking SEO and making sure their post titles were rich with key words. Blogging meant identifying your target audience and developing your brand. It meant having a consistent voice and making sure you delivered value. It meant compelling copy and professional photographs. It meant HD video and art that was worthy. It meant sharing 10 Top Tips for Your Creative Success not 10 Things You Might Not Know about Me. (That was relegated to Facebook.)

And just like that blogging went from grassroots to glossy.

What that meant for me, as a burgeoning creative entrepreneur, was that I started to leave myself out of my blog. (I know that may sound weird coming from a woman whose site literally has her name in it.)

As I started to do more coaching, teach more classes, as I started to become a business, this is what I started to believe:

Nobody wants to know about the meal I had for dinner, unless I am a food blogger and have Pinterest-worthy photos.

Nobody wants to see pictures of my walk to the Beaches with my husband unless I am sharing travel-blogger type info about the neighbourhood or including a useful lesson about quality time with your partner.

Nobody wants to see what I am creating unless it’s Etsy worthy or I’m teaching the techniques used to create it.

Only “useful” things.

Only “beautiful” things.

Only “well-written” things.

Only “relevant” things.

Only “strategic” things.

Only “on-brand” things.

What started out as a loving and careful desire to focus on what was useful, relevant and inspiring became so restrictive that my blog didn’t feel like my blog anymore. This thing that had been such a powerful and important part of my life belonged to “the business” Suddenly it felt like there was no room for me.

Maybe that’s appropriate. I have been wrestling with this question for quite some time. A part of me has thought this is a natural evolutionary process. My business has come into its own and of course the blog has developed with it. Of course, I want to offer what is useful. Of course, I want my blog to be beautiful, well-written and relevant. Of course, I want my business to be strategic and a recognizable brand. Of course, I do.

But I also want to be a person. A person with a blog. This blog.

I want to share too many cat pictures and posts about everything from my neighbourhood escapades to my art supplies, from becoming a more confident traveller to learning to make pasta. I want this space to reflect the depth and breadth of my creative life, the messy, the silly, the epic, the beautiful, the painful, just as it is. And I want to do that alongside resources, help, inspiration, classes, etc.

So, I’m taking my blog back.

I’m kickin’ it old school.

And I’m going to see what happens.

Maybe I’ll lose you. Maybe my life, my casual writing, my imperfect photography, my wild experiments, my current obsessions, my modest home, my artistic attempts, even my aging self, maybe that won’t be aspirational for you. Maybe it won’t be a Pinterest board, a shiny magazine or a 7-figure business (6-figures is so 2015).

But it will be me.

And maybe, just maybe, if I take some place for me amidst the work, you’ll realize that on your own blog, in your own life and in your own business there is also place for you.

Maybe together we’ll remember that we can dream and be real all at the same time.

That’s what life is all about.

September 9, 2017

Caturday: Love Languages

We all have different love languages, including cats! For Shibumi, love is understood through play. When Justin or I take the time to throw her ball (again and again and again – and particularly up or down the stairs), she lights up! She runs over, purring madly, rubbing up against our legs in between each throw. This lively girl needs action and adventure to feel alive and loved! (Have you thought about your love language? What makes you understand you are loved?)

Escher and Scout are very close. Often we find them not just curled up with one another but connected to each other in all kinds of ways, including holding hands.

I have to share that for the first long while I really thought about finding Escher a different home. It wasn’t that I didn’t love him. He always had a special place in my heart. With his introverted and reserved ways, I wondered if he would blossom being the only cat in the house. Maybe that way the playing could always be at his pace and perhaps he would be more open to people if it was just him and them. But then I see moments like this and I think we absolutely made the right decision.