I wrote about meditation in my book; how I struggled with it, but did it anyway. I benefited from my commitment,  but  it wasn’t until I began working with a personal coach last September that meditation became a focus in my life. I once had a boyfriend tell me that I was “too airy-fairy.” As it turns out, I wasn’t airy-fairy enough.

My coach urged me to surrender to meditation, to move from a place of “having to” into a place of willingness.  She also urged an a.m. and p.m. practice. I resisted. I didn’t see how it could help beyond making me feel a little more relaxed.

Here’s what happened after I finally did surrender:

• Within 90 days of wholeheartedly meditating, I realized I could retire. I was ready to take the risk and go for what I truly wanted.
• 90 days after that, I was finished writing my book, Sick and Tired & Sexy, Living Beautifully with Chronic Illness.
• In the next 120 days – the book is now ready to go to print, I just approved everything this morning!
• I used The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo and got rid of all of my extra “stuff.” What is left brings me joy, and I have a new awareness of who I am, without all of my stuff.
• I was invited to join the team of talented women writing at 1010ParkPlace.com.
• A new book idea appeared for me, and I am making daily progress on a “spiritual murder mystery.”
• And last, but not least – we move into an even smaller, but sexier, apartment tomorrow morning. This will allow us to travel and I can write-on-the-go.

Here is what I realized: we are only having a one-way conversation with our Spirit/God/Higher Power/The Universe if all we do is talk, ask, pray, but never sit still and listen.  We need to make time for answers, guidance, solutions, and inspiration to come into our lives. These charge us, like magnets,  to attract just what we need in the form of wonderful coincidences and seemingly miraculous occurrences.

Here is a great article including a video (01:48 mins!)  by Madeline Diamond:
http://www.huffingtonpost.comentry/a-tibetan-buddhis-masters-simple-guide-to-meditation_us_57850a79e4b07c356cfe8158

Take a few minutes to sit down, get still, and give inner-peace a chance. Let me know what happens!

XO Donna

I admit I’ve been called many things by many people, but I have never been called mellow.  Or yellow, come to think of it. As in, “You’re yellow. You’re chicken!” I never backed down from a dare, but it might have been smart if I had. Read More

I’m referring to the KonMari method of organizing by Marie Kondo which has been all the rage in Japan for a while.  I heard of it a few months ago and bought and reviewed her book, “the life-changing magic of tidying up,”  but I chose to wait until after the holidays to tackle yet another project.

What I like best about her method is that she’s even more anal-retentive than I could ever imagine being. Did I say that?  I meant organized. And in her defense, her method WORKS and was FUN.

Her “rules” are legion, but mercifully simple:  Tidy by category, with goals. In my case, it was my cosmetics and toiletries today. Start by discarding everything at once, intensely and completely. Only keep things that spark joy for you.  Never pile things: you can’t see what you want, it takes up more space, and the iteams on the bottom feel neglected. Don’t change her rules to suit yourself. And she even has her own unique folding method.

Some of her concepts are based on Feng-Shui principles, and a few might be considered a little airy-fairy, but they make sense when  you think about them in a Ghost in the Machine way; things have feelings, too, showing respect and honor to what you have, and the idea that putting your house in order can benefit your life.

In my experience,  creating spaciousness of spirit, and environment, is a way of attracting love, money, opportunities, and vitality. Nature abhors a vacuum.

As Marie Kondo says, “Your real life begins after putting your house in order.”

I began by (neatly) dumping all of my bathroom toiletries on the floor, as advised. If I didn’t love it or use it, into the trash it went! Then I found some containers and sorted by category: hair care, styling tools, medicines, skin care. Back they went – easy to see, to use, and to put back afterwards.

My sweetheart had been meaning to pare his closet further, so he placed all of his clothes on the bed, (not thrilled by the idea of dumping it all on the floor, like I was) and sorted into Keep, Donate, and Discard piles. Once the last two were in sacks, he re-hung the dress shirts, sorted his tees by color, then folded them using her method.

We were impressed by how many more he could fit in his dresser and the ease with which he could tell them apart. No more digging for that v-neck.

For my next act, I will make all of the unloved stuff in my closet, the under-stairs storage, and our garage disappear. Abracadabra!

I think for the last two I may need an assistant standing-by with a pitcher of Martinis. I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.

XO Donna