Jul20
Posted on Jul 20 by Ruth Davis
“Beautifully Balanced” by Deborah South-McEvoy We’ve all been there. You hear a great motivational speaker or attend an uplifting event or read some inspiring article and a million new ideas swirl around your head and you can’t wait to take some action. In fact you’re so ready to do it all that you don’t know where to begin and maybe you attempt several things at once or you are overwhelmed with all of the choices and you do nothing at all. But doing nothing can actually be a good strategy. By not immediately rushing forward, you are allowing all of the stirred up possibilities to sift down to the single most appropriate action. Several weeks ago I attending a very inspiring week-long workshop all about movement and improvisation. All of the pins were firing in my head during the classes and I was so excited about all of the new ways I was playing and expressing myself creatively. I couldn’t wait to come home and write about it, dance about it, share what I was learning with my friends...
Jul13
Posted on Jul 13 by Ruth Davis
I know me. If I don’t find enjoyment in doing something, I’m not going to follow through. If I don’t have a deep motivation for WHY I am doing something, I won’t stay with it. Some people are able to go the gym every morning, even when they don’t feel like it, because it’s “what they do.” This doesn’t work for me. I am highly self-motivated and disciplined, but if I don’t WANT to do something, it’s not going to happen. And so it’s been a challenge to find ways to connect with my physical body. I don’t mean just exercising, working out, lifting weights and losing weight, I mean really connecting with my body. I know that, as in touch as I am with my heart and my thoughts, until I am just as connected with my physical body, the big shifts that I desire can’t happen. And so, many weeks ago I set an intention to find new ways to connect in my body. Without a clear idea of what that would look like, I opened up...
Jun15
Posted on Jun 15 by Ruth Davis
I believe there is great power in working with others. Sharing ourselves with people we trust and respect helps us see many more possibilities and options than we can imagine in our own minds. I live with myself and my dogs and am self-employed and so I know, first-hand, how important it is to step outside of my solitary comfort zones and seek the wisdom and companionship of others. As humans, we need contact and connection with other people. But what I’m learning is that basic contact isn’t enough. Several of my Living Room Ladies joined the circle to meet like-minded women. One of them has little social contact outside of her family. Another works with with a group of colleagues but realizes that this is not real connection. A third has many women friends but their conversations and interactions are somewhat superficial and safe. “I could never talk about this stuff with them,” she shared in one of our groups. If we are really honest with ourselves, we crave intimacy, really talking with a person and connecting at...
May04
Posted on May 4 by Ruth Davis
As many of you know, my mom passed away last June. With Mother’s Day and her birthday coming up this month, I am, of course, filled with all kinds of emotions–sadness and loss, naturally. But also great gratitude and love. The theme for this year’s Mother’s Day Hallmark commercial is “Celebrating all that our moms have given us.” And so I am actually looking forward to these special occasions because they are another opportunity for me to honor and remember my mom, and to say thank you. Growing up, I was at constant war with my mother. I challenged her, aggravated her, even ran away from home twice. We were very different and she just didn’t know how to handle me. But over the years we worked hard to find ways to better communicate, forgive each other and create a new relationship based on respect and love. Really. My mother taught me, by example, how important friendship is. That everyone learns differently. That kindness is more important than anything. She told me I was smart. Bright. And she encouraged...
Apr13
Posted on Apr 13 by Ruth Davis
Earlier this month I facilitated a powerful and intimate retreat in Sedona. Each woman arrived with some expectations and pre-conceived ideas of what might happen. Throughout the weekend there were many opportunities to express and release the known and open to the unknown, creating space for new possibilities. As each woman let go and opened up, she discovered something about herself that surprised her, excited her, inspired her. When we create space for the unexpected, it’s amazing what we begin to notice about ourselves and our lives. There were many invitations during the weekend to write, to use language to explore, express and make connections. Following are excerpts from my own journal writing during the retreat weekend. “…there is so much space and room and vistas and comforts and amenities and grace and the grounds are lush and tended and tendered. I follow the sound of water, down an easy step-stoned path, across big, solid-footed boulders that lead to the creek where I stand. To the left, the creek is barely a trickle, low water, almost stagnant, so much...
Apr04
Posted on Apr 4 by Ruth Davis
Often, a client comes to me wanting immediate change in some aspect of her life. Maybe it’s a new job, or a way to have more balance between work and play. Maybe it is about making new friends and being more socially connected. Change takes time. Change happens one step at a time. Sometimes it is a small step. Sometimes it is a huge leap. But the path from here to there is never one single step. If you can think of achieving your goal not as one big action but as a series of steps, it becomes more manageable, more possible, more do-able. I like to think of the process in terms of the alphabet, taking each step one letter at a time. TRY THIS: Imagine the alphabet as a series of stepping stones on a long, winding path. Imagine you are standing on stepping stone A. Your vision of your dream is far off on stepping stone Z. There is no possible way that you can jump from where you are to where you want to be...
