Week One Celebrations

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Week one celebrations occurred, as I move through 62 Outrageous Things to do for My 62nd Birthday. Check out that post HERE, to see what the celebrations are all about.

I’ve chosen to do a weekly update every Friday, as a way of sharing the fun and also to hold myself accountable. Accountability is actually what led me down the blogging path back in 2014. That year I did something new every day, 365 days in a row. Blogging helped me to stay focused and be transparent in my accountability. In the same way, posting weekly updates keeps me on track with the birthday activities. It’s a big undertaking, this time of year, to add an extra activity every day. And yet, that’s part of the fun, challenging myself to “go beyond”.

I hope you benefit as well, from following along with me. May you find new ideas and be inspired to create your own magical games.

Week One Celebrations

As a reminder, I have 62 activities written on slips of paper. I folded those papers up and dropped them into a jar. Every morning I draw out an activity and do what is written on the paper. I love this game, trusting that the activity I randomly select is the perfect one for that particular day. This is a game that I play frequently, for various reasons. My trust and playfulness have both deepened greatly as a result.

How does this game deepen trust?

Some activities work better on different days, depending on what else I have going on. My trust develops because I can see the correlation between the free time I have on a given day, and the activity I randomly draw out. And as you will see in the week one celebrations, I sometimes begin an activity and then draw it out of the jar. This simple game shows me that I am part of a much larger “game” playing out. The more aware I become, the more magical my life is.

Here we go…week one celebrations.

Watch a Movie in a Different Genre

I’m an avid movie watcher. Movies, like music, speak into my life. So this activity, the first one I drew out of the jar, is more of a challenge than one would think. I watch films across a broad range of genres.

After consideration, I chose the category of Documentary. I’m not sure why, but I rarely watch anything in this genre. The next task was to choose one to watch. Charged: The Eduardo Garcia Story snagged my attention because Eduardo is a chef and outdoorsman who found a way to combine those two loves into a budding career. However, during a hike in the wilds of Montana, Eduardo came across a dead bear within a large metal box. Curiosity drew him to investigate, resulting in an electrocution. 2400 volts of electricity shot through his body and erupted in four places. Eduardo survived but he lost his lower left arm and hand, four ribs and muscle mass from his torso, leg and scalp.

More important than what he lost, is what Eduardo found as he began a life changing journey through recovery.

What an extraordinary documentary, about an extraordinary man. His former girlfriend, who journeyed with him through recovery, and his supportive family are just as amazing. I loved Eduardo’s zest for life and how he grew through his challenges. And I appreciated his desire to offer back to the world.

Rent the documentary HERE through Amazon, or watch for free if you are a Prime member. (Not a Prime member but want to be? Click HERE for a 30 day free trial.)

Mental note to self…watch more documentaries!

Spend 30 Minutes Brainstorming Ideas

This appears to be a simple and easy to do activity. However, 30 minutes seems to drag by while writing continuously. I set a timer for this activity, grabbed a pen and notebook and settled into my bedroom to write.

The intention is to write quickly and allow energy to flow, without editing thoughts or words on paper.

I didn’t limit myself. Instead, I jotted down ideas and didn’t stop until the 30 minutes was up. I had a momentary pause about halfway through. Fortunately, the ideas flowed again and on I went. I ended up with FOUR pages of ideas, so I was quite pleased with this activity and I’m excited to develop what I came up with.

Have a Mini Afternoon Retreat

Oh how I love any excuse for a retreat! I “happened” to draw this activity on a Sunday, which worked well as this day is my self care day. I brewed a cup of peppermint tea, grabbed my Lord of the Rings Coloring Book and my colored pencils and retired to my room.

As I colored I caught up on recorded Poldark episodes from the current season. I intended to color for an hour or two. Coloring is so soothing for me, and meditative. The act of laying color onto a page releases a flow of creative energy and all kinds of ideas flow too. Three and a half hours later, I declared an end to the mini retreat. I felt so refreshed.

Design Shirts for Blogs

This is an idea I’ve had for a while, that I have not acted on. Hence the reason this activity went into my jar. I’ll enjoy wearing shirts with Cindy Goes Beyond or Journey With Healthy Me  and their tag lines printed across them. Fortunately, my daughter-in-law and her sister make shirts as a side business.

I’ll share my ideas with them and discuss logos for the shirts as well. My intention is to offer these shirts for sale on the blog sites. Watch for those in the near future!

Take a Class

This is the activity that I started BEFORE I drew the action out of the jar. As I checked through social media feeds, shortly after waking up, I caught a notice for a class on copywriting. It’s a free four part class, offered via videos sent daily through email. I keep returning to the idea of copywriting as a side business, so the class interested me.

I signed up. A short time later, I drew my activity for the day.  Guess what it was? No, really, guess. Right! It was Take a Class. I love when such synchronicities happen. They show me I’m in the flow of life, exactly where I need to be.

The class is called 6 Months to 6 Figures with Copywriting…which sounds amazing. It’s taught by Sarah Turner and I’ve watched two of the videos so far. You can sign up for the free class HERE.

Watch a new TED Talk

Like watching documentaries, I rarely watch a TED Talk, even though I know there are some amazing topics discussed. The few TED Talks I’ve watched were via YouTube.

When I drew out this activity, I decided to go directly to the TED Talks website and join. I’m glad I did. After selecting topics I’m interested in, the site chose my first TED Talk for me.

The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage was perfect for me. Susan David begins with the word Sawubona, which is the Zulu word for “hello”…and I knew this was the right talk to listen to. Sawubona carries significance for me. It literally means, “I see you, and by seeing you, I bring you into being.” A dozen years ago I came across this amazing word and realized the importance of really seeing people.

I loved the TED Talk and plan to watch many more.

Eat at a New Restaurant

My last activity for this update posed a challenge as well. Having lived in Joplin for 37 years, I’ve eaten at most of the restaurants in town. The second difficulty is the fact that I am plant based. That lifestyle limits which restaurants are suitable.

As I considered and discarded possibilities, one restaurant that I’ve not dined at popped into mind and remained there. Infuxn is a restaurant and cocktail bar located downtown at 530 S. Main Street. The interior is fresh,  contemporary and welcoming. They state on their Facebook page,

“Passionate in everything we do whether it be customer service, culinary creativeness or the art of the cocktail. Please enjoy yourself.”

I took that as a personal invitation! Plus, Infuxn offers vegan choices on their menu and according to the manager, that menu is expanding.

Greg accompanied me to Infuxn, where we enjoyed a huge Asian hummus platter with baked naan, carrots and celery. The Asian hummus was amazing. It was seasoned with spices, including ginger, and topped with sesame seeds. The chef changes out the flavor of hummus each week. I’m excited to visit this classy restaurant frequently, to see what they have to offer. We opted for water with our meal, however I want to try some of their creative cocktails too.

A Great Week of Celebrations

Seven days down, on the march toward my 62nd birthday in January, and 55 to go.

I’m loving this game and the way it opens me up to possibilities and opportunities.

I drew out a doozy of an activity today, one that made me say “ooookay, I can do this”, as I took a deep breath. And I did. I had to think about it for a bit and amazing ideas arose as a result. What I so appreciate about this game is that playing it requires me to follow through.

I’ll share that activity next Friday, in the weekly update, and let you know how it all turned out!

Check out Week Two Celebrations.

And Week Three

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