Tag Archives: business

Walking the Labyrinth

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Guestpost alert! Today’s awesome article comes from my friend Loran of Loran’s Heart. Being an entrepreneur comes with its own set of struggles and stucknesses, which often get overlooked. Loran’s tackling the inner and outer spirals head-on – just the way headology likes it.

 

 

Trust your heart, but use your brain.

This is so important in the new business paradigm. Those of us carving out an existence online cannot follow Old School Business Rules. They won’t fly. And if we are all heart and no brain, we’ll just disappear in the stampede for attention.

My walk through the business world and my personal life has been as circuitous as the labyrinth. I met that Evil Auctioneer and I bought some of his wares before telling him to take a hike. I didn’t want to stay mired in negative self-talk.

I’m figuring out ways to incorporate my photography, writing, spirituality and personal growth into one or more marketable packages. It’ll happen but recently I was totally stuck in the Argh! stage of business that Catherine Caine describes so well.  A year ago I was working on the why/what/who/how of my foundations and came up with an action plan that I put into use. I experimented with a few things, implemented a few more and then WHAM – slammed smack into a wall of major and acute frustration.

I actually asked for encouragement and help.

After over 30 years of being a helper this was no small feat. In fact, it was a monumental shift for me. I decided that if I didn’t keep asking (and receiving) that not only would I stay stuck, I was going to give up.

Giving up is not an option, yet. I need more time to do the hard work. In my life, in my relationships, in my business, I wander from one side of the labyrinth to the other, looking for balance, seeking the center. Once I’ve found it, I still have to walk back out. I might experience another round of frustration or another round of contentment. It’s up to me and my attitude.

Nature is chock full of circular rhythms, solar, lunar, and tidal. The seasons change. I don’t enjoy the resistance I feel to fallow stages. It’s hard to accept it as a part of the natural process.

It’s discouraging not to move forward.

One of the worst things I do is compare my progress and development to others. “She got to the center faster! Oh look, she’s already out of the labyrinth.” Except she isn’t, or she just walked into another one.

We all march to a different drummer, or as the headologist reminds us, we need to own our weirdness. Actually, not only own it, but ROCK it because if we don’t we won’t be living the genuine truth of who we are or giving what we have to offer to the world.

I learned this intellectually but now I’m getting to experience it firsthand. Rocking my truth means hanging my butt out to potentially get kicked. Or, I might just turn all supernova and blind everyone with my magnificent light.

Hiding behind this calm, wise, grounded demeanor is a stellar explosion just waiting to happen. I know it. I feel it. I’m going to make it happen. I just have to figure out the how.

But even supernovas burn up, transform their energy and trigger the formation of new stars. It’s all part of the glorious, magnificent, incredible Universe that we all get to be a part of, if only for a moment.

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Loran is a travel guide on the Soul Safari of life. Her business, Loran’s Heart, is filled with journaling prompts, nature photographs, and inspirational products to help you grow personally and spiritually. Her goal is to help you gain clarity and peace of mind through all of life’s challenges. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Aggressive Sitting May Lead to Epiphanies

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My lower back has been killing me for over a week.

It’s keeping me from sleeping, making me walk like I’m 80, and generally being a pain in the ass (see what I did there?).  I carry my stress in that area, so mild discomfort is the baseline.  I have what my former chiropractor described as “ghetto booty” – my tailbone flicks out instead of in, giving me a beautiful behind but a delicate lower back.

But I can’t remember the last time I felt this out of whack without doing heavy lifting all day.

I’m starting to suspect it’s from sitting too aggressively. All of my jobs barring one require me to sit long hours at the computer, and even though I have an ergonomic chair, the sheer length of time my weight is pressed onto my butt is causing me pain.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve had to learn to listen to my body.  Being a perpetually-recovering disordered eater (I promise I’ll write about it someday), you kind of have to.  I check in to make sure I’m eating the right stuff, to figure out what’s going wrong, and to see what I physically need – for example, I know the knot in my colon loves greasy food and hates potatoes.  Our bodies are super-smart if we just stop braining enough to listen to them, you know?  Yet at the same time, I’ve scoffed at the idea of listening to what pain is telling me because it seems too woo-woo, even for me.  Things where you didn’t maim yourself just hurt, right?

The universe thinks it’s funny, though.  Waking up the other morning and easing myself out of bed, wincing as I put weight on the floor, I had a flash of body-insight:  I need to get out more.

On average, I spend 10 hours a day at the computer.  Ten hours writing, emailing, social media-ing, editing, teaching, designing, studying, pinning, and playing.  Before I started blogging, my computer time was maybe 3-4 hours a day, primarily due to my day job – with the launch of The Headologist, my usage has skyrocketed, and my body is paying the price.

I’ve often marvelled at how (those I consider) my peers thrive in their online businesses and/or blogs by only sacrificing a few measly hours each day to the Almighty Internet.  They have families! and dates! and other jobs! and hobbies!  Where do they find the time?  The very idea that I could only spend three hours in the morning and one at night in Businessland boggles my mind.  I’ll admit to being envious of Sui’s intentions to have a social life and go hiking and of Pace and Kyeli’s dedication to their family time.  I crave that kind of self-supporting structure in my daily life yet seem to be wildly irresponsible of my own care in that way.

By giving me this near-crippling lower back pain, my body’s telling screaming at me to unplug and get out, to put some life back in my life.  If I’m not organically attached to my laptop, I can have adventures! feel alive! be less stressed! not be in pain!  Shit, maybe my acne will even go away.

Okay, body, I get it.  Even though I’m afraid that being around less will hurt my growing biz and my online connections, even though I’m afraid that I’ll miss something important, even though I’m afraid that it makes me a “bad” businesslady…

Let’s plan some space.