Dec10
Posted on Dec 10 by Ruth Davis
So many people I talk with say they are living in a world of overwhelm. They have so much going on, so many things on their to do lists that they don’t know where to begin. Their lives are happening all around them and they have resigned themselves to the idea that this is just how life is going to be. But really, we get to choose. Imagine a hurricane. There is wind, and noise, and chaos. Anything and everything is flying and blowing all around and, no matter how hard you try, there is nothing you can do. And yet, in the center of that crazy storm it is calm, quiet, still. This is the eye of the hurricane. Life is often like a hurricane. So many things are happening all around us, we can’t hold on, we can’t keep up. We can barely run for cover. But if we breathe into the eye, the I, of our lives, we can find calm. We can find peace. We can experience stillness. When we come back to our own...
Dec03
Posted on Dec 3 by Ruth Davis
As we enter the last month of the year, there is a tendency to rush forward, to make plans for next year, to set new goals, vision new dreams. But there are still 28 days left of this year to savor, unwind, and reflect on this past year. These last weeks can be a time to celebrate where you are, what you’ve done, who you are becoming. It can be a time to grieve what you have lost, what you were ready to let go of and leave behind. It can be a time to feel and notice and say thank you for all that has happened, and all that is. As I look back, I am so grateful to be back at the beach, after a year of not knowing. How two months in Arizona became eight, including the dreaded summer. And how I used that time being flat on my back to lean into the pain of sciatica and learn so much from it, to grieve some very old losses, and to finally write and publish my...
Nov27
Posted on Nov 27 by Ruth Davis
reprinted from my book, Heart Sparks: 7 Practices For Loving Your Life People will tell you that, if you’re feeling sad, depressed, hopeless, the best thing to do is make a gratitude list. To find simple things that you are grateful for, to shift your attention to what you do have, to what is working in your life. But often, when we are in this dark place, it’s hard to conjure a list. And when we do, the things we come up with seem too simple and silly. Like a roof over our heads, a perfect cup of coffee, that our phone didn’t fall in the toilet. We make these lists, but we don’t often feel great waves of gratitude. And that’s OK. Because just thinking about some positive things in your life will create a shift. Because suddenly you are aware that not everything in your world is horrible. Eventually you’ll be able to really feel the simple joys of saying thank you. You’ll realize that having a roof over your head keeps you dry and cool...
Nov26
Posted on Nov 26 by Ruth Davis
As I am typing, Cody, my new-to-me dog is sleeping in his bed under the dinette as if it’s been his bed for all of his seven years. Truth is, we haven’t even known each other a whole week yet. But already, we’re very comfortable with each other. He knows how to sit, stay and sit pretty on his hind legs. But he does not know how to walk on a leash. He wanders, sometimes crosses in front of me, and he pulls. All 63 solid pounds of him, yanking me faster than I can move, jolting my back and making me very cranky. I did the stop and wait thing every time he pulled, but I couldn’t stay with it, and it hurt my back. And then I got all freaked out that I’d never be able to walk with him. I cried. I pulled him. And then I calmed down and realized he just needs some training. And that, because he is so well behaved about everything else, this was just a surprise. But it’s handle-able. He...
Nov19
Posted on Nov 19 by Ruth Davis
I was brainstorming a new idea: a Heart Sparks Mastermind for next year…7 women, 7 months, exploring the 7 Practices For Loving Your Life. One component of the group dynamic will be partnering with another person, and that took me to questions I’d ask them about what they might need in a partner, (accountability, sharing, inspiration….) and, what about partnering they might be resisting. And then, BOOM, I was asking MYSELF the same questions about relationships in my personal life. And I realize how much I resist vulnerability, because the last few times I have opened my heart, I got hurt. Hard. I took out some paper and I asked, What happens when you are vulnerable? and I wrote, “you get hurt, you learn things about yourself, your heart tells the truth. And that can be a good thing too. It doesn’t always have to be hurt-full. Trust that!” And so on my beach walk that morning I finally walked to the right, to the end of the beach where Laddy and I always walked. I could hear...
Nov12
Posted on Nov 12 by Ruth Davis
I am back at the beach, slowly re-connecting with the rhythm of the tides and the change in the climate. The transition between being in AZ and being here takes a while, letting go of what was, allowing my tender heart to ache, and, at the same time, embracing that I am in this place that makes my body feel so damn good. Already I am walking more than I have in the last three months and breathing in so deeply that my exhales are audible. The air is damp and a little salty-sticky, cool but not cold. I am wearing cotton capris, a three-quarter-sleeved knit shirt with a camisole underneath for warmth and my body rejoices in this perfect temperature. I pulled in on Sunday around noon, exhausted after the two easy driving days and the emotions that go with them. I was grateful for the welcoming fog, the piercing call of the killdeer and the roll of the waves. But my RV had a dead battery when I tried to start it. I had imagined I’d...
