Dec05
Posted on Dec 5 by Ruth Davis
Life continues to offer me opportunities to push against the uncomfortable and follow the energy that makes me feel alive. And each time I say yes, I find deeper joy, deeper meaning and deeper love. Each time I say yes, I find more of myself. I met Patty more than 25 years ago when she was a singer/songwriter in Phoenix. We had a few friends in common, but we never dated, though I do remember having a little crush. Then she moved to Texas, got married, had kids and we all lost touch. Her kids are now in their twenties, she’s no longer married and last year she sold her house and packed up her life in Texas to follow her creativity into the high desert of Arizona. A few weeks ago when I was in Arizona, she had come down to Phoenix to pick up a friend at the airport and she invited me to dinner so we could talk about our mutual experiences of following our passions. The funny part was, she contacted me because one of...
Nov28
Posted on Nov 28 by Ruth Davis
I got together with a friend a few weeks ago who is also a coach. She was in town for an intense training to get more clarity about her own coaching practice. On the drive from the airport to the waterfront restaurant where we were having dinner, I asked her who she wanted to work with in her practice. Her answer was clear and succinct, but it sounded rehearsed. And so I asked her WHY she wanted to work with these particular women. Again, her answer was clear, but I still didn’t feel any real passion. I asked her why SHE was the one to do this kind of work. And she shared how she had been one of those women who had tried to find joy and acceptance in things and experiences outside of herself, thinking that IF she had THIS degree or THAT house, then she would be happy. “But really,” she said, “it’s not the piece of paper we want, it’s the feeling we have when we get the piece of paper. We have to find...
Nov14
Posted on Nov 14 by Ruth Davis
When’s the last time you did something brave? Brave isn’t just for big things, like driving alone in Europe or going skydiving. Brave could be painting your nails a new color. Or driving a new way to work. Brave could be saying NO to a party you really don’t want to go to. Brave is doing anything that brings you to the edge of your comfort zone and you do it anyway. And doing it makes you feel on top of the world, so full of yourself, like a red caped super hero. And yet, too often, we don’t acknowledge the act, the risk, the courage we’ve had to muster to get there, to step up, to do it. I’m making a conscious choice these days to do at least one brave thing every few days. And I’m keeping a WOW! I REALLY DID THAT! list. Some are big things. Others might seem so easy for another person to do. But for me, they require a lot of brave. I’m using the list to acknowledge my courage and applaud myself...
Nov07
Posted on Nov 7 by Ruth Davis
I’ve been living in the RV for more than three months now, and have been here at the Bella Vista Mobile Lodge since mid-September. I am settling in. I wave to my neighbors and engage in conversations about the weather. The woman in the bakery section of Spencer’s Market and I are on a first name basis. And Mark, my neighbor across the street, even helped me when my new mattress arrived. I am calling this place home. In some ways it is exactly what I imagined—clean air, cool breezes and much less stress. But in other ways it is nothing like my dreams. I don’t live in a house with a yard and a laundry room. I am not going to clients’ homes every day. I’m not even trying to build up a local Mac training clientele. The other day as I was walking with Laddy, I noticed that one of the mobile homes is for rent. I peeked through the windows, looked around at the outdoor patio space and thought maybe a little more space might...
Oct31
Posted on Oct 31 by Ruth Davis
When Marika was visiting, we bought a new shower head for the RV bathroom. After 18 years of using the original one, it was getting too hard to switch it on and off to conserve water while showering. And it was, admittedly, leaking a little bit beyond the actual holes. O. M. G! I can’t believe we waited so long. The new shower head has five settings and a much wider surface area, which means a more luxurious shower on many levels. And it was only $15.00! What were we thinking to not do this sooner?? This seems to be a common behavior with lots of people I know. We tend to settle for what is, what we already have because, hey, it’s working. So what if it’s harder to use, a little uncomfortable, maybe not even working 100%. It’s easier to just keep on keeping on, status quo. But this small investment has made my morning shower ritual a true delight! So what one thing, one small thing could you upgrade or change or improve without much effort...
Oct24
Posted on Oct 24 by Ruth Davis
Sometimes our best work happens when we simply show up, open up and connect with our heart. I am not a mother and I don’t, for a minute, pretend to understand what it must be like to have a child love you unconditionally, then challenge you, then love you, then hate you, constantly changing the rules of the relationship. A client recently called in a panic. She was on her way to dinner with her daughter who wanted to talk more about her upcoming wedding plans. She was expecting a large wedding, fully funded by her parents, even though my client, recently divorced from the daughter’s father, was not in a position to pay. Recent conversations between mother and daughter had been ugly, insensitive and undercutting, and my client was not looking forward to another battle. “She brings out the worst in me,” my client said. “And she sounds just like her father, putting me down, even suggesting I get a second job to pay for this.” Through tears she said, “I don’t even like her right now.”...
