Good luck with your tasks today. Isn't it amazing how huge certain things can become when we give them more power than they need to have?

I loved the part in your podcast about saying things to each other that we don't yet have the confidence to own and how that opens a door. Powerful words, Jen.

I loved listening - thank you for sharing.

I haven't been to the dentist in years and the passport thing is also on my big list because I have to update to my married name and get them for the three kids so we can go to Canada with my grandma. I often balk at ordinary tasks as sort of placeholders. I can overfunction with the best of 'em so Im not sure why I persist in leavin little tasks undone. Also typing o. iPhone so excuse typos. Very glad to start th day with this

Dear Jen,
I had the pleasure of meeting you at Squam on the steps of my cabin, Eldorado, on Saturday. Since returning home I have been following your blog and thoroughly enjoying it. Thank You!!!

Thank you for sharing your thoughts for today. As it happens, I DO have thoughts/tasks that are taking up psychic space and preventing me from writing the book that is waiting to be shared. And funny enough, renewing my passport is one of them! Today I will be writing a speech and creating an Event Invitation for a client of mine - and then, I will source the passport paperwork online and bookmark it. That will be today's step. I will then give myself permission to immerse myself in the place where I can slowly breathe life into my book. Thank you ...

You are so lovely to listen to over my morning coffee. Thank you.

I also have a tendency to let mundane tasks sort of fester on my to do list until they become large and unruly and then I expend a lot of psychic energy avoiding them.

I'm going to take a look at my calendar and see what I can tackle today - free up some head space.

It is always lovely, jen, to hear your voice!

I have been working on our passports for months.
Listening to you was a good motivator to spend the time to get them done.
I have set aside the 11th - as the day.
thanks

Thanks for this, Jen. I too tend to put off little tasks like this one. Today, it's paying the dentist bill (a ridiculous $2 after insurance, but it needs to be done), dropping clothes off at Goodwill, and finishing a lingering knitting project.

Lovely to hear your voice again.

jen - this was so so good...my favorite part was giving permission to just ask for assurance...wow!

at the sound of your voice in those first few words, before you mentioned your daily rituals, i had this vision of the quiet stillness of those pre-dawn hours. i don't experience much of those times as i'm not a natural early riser...but when i do they are precious. thank you for sharing that time of morning with me and reminding me how sweet and honest it is. as for what i put off on my to-do list...too much. or maybe there's far too much on my to do list :). i need space to dream.

Jen, it's so funny. Last night I noted a few tasks that feel like looking up at Mt Everest (filing, doc apts, finishing moving into our new place...which we did 4 months ago). Then I listened to your podcast this morning and noted them again, casually. Then I just read a chapter of that book I mentioned to you and it talked about the ways we get stopped up around simple tasks and how sometimes getting stopped up around those tasks can actually be a sign of being stopped up around other, bigger things that we're wanting to accomplish.

ANYWAY, I'm being bombarded, in a good way, over here. Thanks for being part of that bombardment! :)

So good to hear your voice again and share in your wisdom.

Enjoy the quiet hours....

Helen.
xx

I have a cardboard box of teacups, collected long ago by my great grandmother, in my dining room. I've been "borrowing" them from my mother's house for almost a year now because I want to photograph each one. . . . preserve the beauty, the memory, the history. But I put it off. Walk by the box. Ignore the box. Make excuses about the box to company & hide it with a placemat on Thanksgiving.
I think I am afraid that anything I can do is just a feeble grasp at a memory I don't really own. But, really, I should just tackle it. It's my history.
You go to the dentist & I'll tackle the teacups?

I have a pile of wedding stuff behind my couch left from July. I need to sort through it so I can keep what I want and donate what I don't necessarily need. I also have name change forms that need proofing and mailing which have been sitting on the bookshelf since September (kinda like those passport forms).

LOL - I've been putting off calling the groomer. I guess I should call before things get too crazy with Christmas.

Great post! If you get up before the sun comes up what time do you go to bed? I am struggling a lot with sleeping and waking these days.

I hear ya, babe. I've been trying to renew my passport for about six months now. I even have the form filled out and a check attached to it. Now all I need are the photos, which feel like a pain in the ass for some reason, even though I can get them taken at the post office. I'm going to get on that.

Hi Jen, I love all your positivity in this world! I was wondering if you could spread the word for our little wish maggie a happy birthday project...It's here...
http://maggiedoyne.squarespace.com/journal/2009/11/5/birthday-girl.html
all it takes is a little bit of love and a second of time...and: POOF! A wish! much love and thanks for your great spirit!

your voice is always so wonderful to hear... i am working on clearing off house-cleaning chores from the to-do list. i avoid them oh-so-very-well!

jen,

got my passport photos at cvs pharmacy cuz it was so simple, quick, and low cost -- i'm behind on these podcasts so you may have yours done by now ;)