Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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Saturday Morning Stress Management Ideas

A few of my friends are having a really hard time catching their breath lately. Stress is building up and stealing their joy in heart-breaking ways, and I hate it for them. I hate it for myself, too, because I love my friends and want them back. LOL I want their shine back in my life. You know? : )

So today, before I walk out to the garden, before I start preparing for the new bees which we are bringing home tonight, before we go play with the new cria who was born yesterday…

 

Seraphine has once again gifted the farm with a beautiful, healthy little cria. And we are, once again, madly in love.
Seraphine has once again gifted the farm with a beautiful, healthy little cria. And we are, once again, madly in love.

 

I want to share a simple formula I use in times of paralyzing stress.

Start with your environment. If you need to relocate to somewhere more peaceful than where you are, do that. Or, if you need to spend half an hour cleaning your house in order to enjoy it more, do that. I always think more clearly with a clean, shining room and a fragrant candle. That’s just me. Speaking of environment, I also suggest considering your most personal environment, your body. Go get really sweaty for a while, doing whatever you do that feels good to you (I like running, duh). Then take a shower and get cooled off and peaceful. Now your slate is somewhat clean and you are ready to re-energize. The mind-body connection is so strong.

Now just sit still and count your blessings, big and small. When I say small I mean notice the colors and fragrances outside that please you, the loving memories captured in your home’s furnishings, the sounds of your people or your animals, etc. Notice the incredible things, too, like every bill that is paid. Every physical ailment that is in your past. Every broken relationship that is either repaired or removed. Be as wild and thorough about counting your blessings as you can possibly be. Spend real energy on this, to the point that you feel silly, because it will fuel your asking for new blessings. Soon you won’t feel silly; you’ll feel exhilarated. I use a pretty notebook to record these things, and I am still playing with Ann Voskamp’s 1,000 gifts exercise. You do what works for you. Just be detailed. Notice what feels amazing to you, what things you can’t imagine losing. Rather than giving any thought to the problems you’re facing, be thankful for the problems you don’t have. Notice what physical pleasures, which thoughts and emotions, every plan that excites you or comforts you the most. Spend a little energy magnifying those things. I promise whatever energy you spend here will be restored to you in spades.

Now write down a few wishes. Don’t even call them prayers yet; call them wishes, and be happy about it! Like, totally indulgent. If anything in the world could go exactly your way, what do you want out of life? (And by the way? I had the realization recently that what I want out of life is in many cases very different from what society thinks I should want. Be genuine!) Think about that outcome in detail, imagine it. Dwell in the possibility of total fulfillment, both short-term and long-term. Now pray over these things. Ask for them boldly, beyond what you by yourself would be able to do. This means ask largely. Ask for the most overwhelming version of whatever your heart desires, and trust that the best possible thing for you will happen. It really will! Trust that Love reigns over your life, because He does.

Finally, go do something for someone else. Simple as that. Your needs are now met. Your biggest hopes are being fulfilled even before you see the evidence of it, and you have life and energy abundant in you, overflowing. You have plenty to share, so go share it! For the rest of the day, anytime you have the urge to focus on your problems (they are real, I’m not saying they’re not), just dismiss the thought and remember that the solutions are forthcoming. Instead of dwelling in frustration, pain, or sadness, make a conscious choice to dwell in the mystery of the future, the overwhelming possibility of EVERY SINGLE WISH GRANTED.

 

Life is beautiful! Treat it with that expectation. xoxo
Life is beautiful! Treat it with that expectation. xoxo

 

Happy Saturday Friends! I’ll be back soon with farm updates and an installment of Tiny T’s love story!

XOXOXOXO

Grape Fruits & Good Thoughts

Have you eaten a ruby red grape fruit lately? I bought a big bag of them last week and have been enjoying one per day ever since. Each one is massive and almost completely edible, even the white fleshy membranes. So tender. They are juicy beyond belief, like biting into the ocean. But a sweet, tangy ocean. They need neither salt nor brown sugar to temper the powerful flavor, because they are naturally perfect lately. When your teeth grip the pink, webbed meat and fruit juice splashes in your mouth, you can literally hear the vitamins collide with your blood cells (it sounds like sparklers on the Fourth of July), and within minutes your future seems brighter, stronger, more likely to improve. I ate one this morning and my bank account instantly went up by like forty three bucks.*

 

grapefruit

 

I’m a pretty big believer that regarding physical health, what you put into your body matters a great deal, as much as or possibly more than what you do with your body. I believe the same about our minds. What we are able to do with them comes a step after what we allow to seep into them. Or at least, the two are so intertwined that we might as well consider mental input-and-output as one. An infinite circle of thought, whether healthy or toxic. And we all know by now that thought is the beginning of action, is the beginning of habit, is the beginning of path and character, etc…

 

What do you allow into your body, your mind, your home, your heart?
What do you allow into your body, your mind, your home, your heart?

 

That’s about all I have right now. Just some encouragement for you to make conscious choices about what kinds of mental influences you allow in your days. Beyond positive or negative: What schools of thought are your entertaining? What social attitudes, spiritual leanings, and life approaches are regular parts of your thinking diet? I know I have to stop and ask myself these questions once in a while. Unexamined ruts are no good.

Also, buy some ruby red grape fruits. They are spectacular right now.

Eat well, listen well, move better, think better
XOXOXOXO

*disclaimer: this is a lie

Happy Mice are Running Mice

I read the funniest article yesterday about an experiment performed on wild mice and other rodents, an experiment to answer the question about whether these creatures would exercise at will, given the alternative of freedom. (I did not realize this was a burning question in the scientific community, but what do I know?) You understand what I mean, right? Do mice traditionally run on treadmills just because they have to, given their laboratory setting, because they have nowhere else to go, like the proverbial hamster wheels? Or do they run for pleasure?

mice like to run too
I am trying so hard to stop eating tortilla chips at every meal of every day of my life. It’s gonna be a process. Salted cucumbers are a decent stand in. Light a candle for me.

I bet you see where this is going. Because had the test results pointed to LAZY MICE, I would not bother to share it with you.

Well, friends, the mice ran. They ran their little mouse hearts out! The treadmills were positioned in open fields, near well populated forests, and the undomesticated little sweeties had every opportunity in the world to do anything else they wanted to do. Like, forage for example. Or sleep. They could have had mouse-battles with sweet bowstaffs. They could do anything besides run, but over and over again they chose the tiny mouse treadmill. The scientific consensus was that the mice literally ran for pleasure.

Bam. There, it’s official. Running is fun!

Honestly I wish all my friends and loved ones could feel the deep and lasting high I am always talking about. After a while it’s like your bones are literally glowing. But running might not be for everyone. The thing is, is (hi Jon!) that you don’t absolutely hafta run to be happy or healthy. But to be happy and healthy you do have to find something physical to do on a regular basis. Find activities that get you gross-sweaty and also help you bliss out, then do them over and over again. See where that leads you.

As for the running-addicted mice, I just want to know how they figured out the myriad settings on the treadmill. Because WOW those machines are too complicated!

Be like mice and run happy.
XOXOXOXO

 

 

Friday 5 at the Farm: Upcoming Projects

Happy Friday! Man, you guys, there are so many wild, love-blown, vastly more important things I crave to talk to you about than what projects I’m doing at the farm. So many prayers, miracles, hopes, and worries that need to be named and celebrated. I mean, obviously the worries don’t need to be celebrated; but the conquering of them does. Life is amazing, and the elasticity of time is blowing my mind lately. Einstein had it goin’ on. Anyway.

hammock time

Resting in promises comes more easily some days than others. But I always build up so much energy when I finally do. Keeping my eyes on the light, not the shadows, recharges me.

These important life things I crave to discuss need to simmer a while longer. Maybe forever, I don’t know yet. In the mean time your prayers are appreciated. And let me just say I have recently been reminded that praying is a lot more powerful than just hoping. They compliment each other, but they are not substitutes for each other. I’m great at hoping and imagining good things (kind of an expert). Praying? I could do a lot better. I’ve grown a bit too passive in my day-to-day peacefulness. That’s changing. Anyway.

On to Friday 5 at the Farm.

My personal calendar is about to switch over from spring to summer, and I see fun projects all around me.  Such variety, too! Here is a round up of five worthwhile shenanigans I have up my sleeve:

Book Page Wall…

I’m thinking this will become the new wall treatment for my colorful little kitchen pantry. Last year in New Orleans I bought an old paperback copy of Julia Child’s first cook book, and the pages are the perfect yellowishness and flatness. My idea is to layer those pages first, like you see here, then start adding old family recipes on top, in frames. Really excited for this!

(source via pinterest)
 

 

Farmer’s Market Display…

I’m a far cry from selling produce constantly, but very soon there will be farm fresh herbs, eggs, mixed greens, and veggies available for sale at the Lazy W. Also some llama manure and chicken litter. So… why not? It’s adorable, anyway. “If you build it they will come,” and all.

 

f5 veggie stand

Gold-Dipped Glass…

If anyone ever submits my name to a television show about hoarding, it might be due to my glass collection. Mason jars, cheap florist vases, salad dressing carafes, Mexican soda bottles, you name it. I experience physical discomfort at the thought of discarding a shapely piece of glass. This, coupled with my renewed interest in all things glittery and gleaming, might make for a summer afternoon of gold dipping.

f5 gold vases

New Bees Arriving…

In the next couple of weeks I’ll bring home our new bee colonies! There is prep work to do, and I am so excited. I almost backed out of it this spring but have decided to buckle down and learn what I don’t know. It’s so worth it!

f5 honey sweet

Long Run!

Oh, friends. The marathon. Such a great experience! Then it was over. I ran very lightly the week following it, then I let life funnel my energy elsewhere for a couple of weeks, grabbing two or three miles or maybe some time on the elliptical machine  when I could. Now this week I am crawling my way back to a nice, steady trail routine. I feel amazing. Running is the best! This weekend and next week I have penciled in some 10-15 mile adventures (maybe more) that really have my heart singing! So… pasta!

f5 carbs

 

So that’s what’s up in my world. Also, if you’re interested, I’ve done a fair amount of reading lately and have so many books to tell you about. The garden is really taking off, too. It’s that time of year when I could stay outside for eighteen hours straight.

Now please tell me about you!

  • What crafty projects do you have planned this month?
  • What really difficult challenges have you almost abandoned, then decided to accept?
  • What are your reading?
  • Where do you run?
  • Tell me your thoughts on prayers and hopes and how they are related.

Happy Friday, friends! Thanks so much for stopping in.

“Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
XOXOXOXO

 

 

(almost) wordless wednesday

Yesterday afternoon while brushing Chanta I sat down in the grass. He let me stroke his long, sturdy legs. He snuffled the top of my head and knocked my cheap sunglasses to the ground. I leaned against the meat of his forearm, passenger side. Then, exhausted from the morning, I laid down on the grass, flat on my back, still holding his brushes. He look me square in the eyes and exhaled all of his sweet, grassy horse breath on me then swung that massive head to the left.

chanta in sun edited

He started crunching the grass all around the edges of my limp body. He could have walked away, grazing the full expanse of the front yard and vegetable garden area, but he stayed with me. Munching and breathing around me. Almost beneath me, tickling my ribs and moving my legs out of the way if they covered a little patch of sweet clover. My hair sprawled out on the ground was in danger of being mistaken for hay. I wondered if Chanta was trying on purpose to make me laugh and thought for a while about anthropomorphism then felt sad for people who don’t know animals are emotional creatures.

The sky behind him was both blue and gray, quilted with brilliant clouds and warm with the sun. The farm was sleepy, full of birdsong and buffalo chuffing, peaceful.

I know the truth about some things that I can’t articulate. Sometimes I allow fear and grief to drain me, but Love always sweeps in and fills me back up. The storms always calm, and the sky always returns to it gray-blue brilliance.

XOXOXOXO